Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Matthew Gerwitz from the City of Tonawanda was sentenced on Monday to 65 years-to-life in prison by Erie County Court Judge Sheila DiTullio for his role in the killing of another man and attempted murder of City of Tonawanda police officers during an incident in 2020.
The 31-year-old was convicted back on Sept. 26 on charges of Murder in the Second Degree, six counts of Attempted Murder and Criminal Possession of a Weapon after a jury took approximately five hours of deliberation following an eight-day trial to come to a verdict.
In all, Gerwitz was convicted of all 12 counts in the indictment against him.
"This was probably, easily, [one of] the top-five incidents that we've had in this county since I've been District Attorney the past seven years. Obviously the Tops shooting is clearly No. 1, but when you go down after that, this incident can make a strong argument as No. 2, in terms of what happened, and more importantly, in terms of what could have happened, which, thank God did not happen," said Erie County District Attorney John Flynn during Monday's press conference following the sentencing.
It was back on May 26, 2020 at approximately 1:10 a.m. ET when Gerwitz intentionally shot 32-year-old Joseph Marasco on the corner of Morgan Street and Clinton Street in the City of Tonawanda. Marasco, who was playing a cell phone game on the sidewalk at the time of the incident, was shot in the torso.
The victim was taken by ambulance to Erie County Medical Center, where he later died. He was not known to Gerwitz.
"All this [guy's] doing is playing Pokemon Go, and next thing you know, he gets into a conversation with this Gerwitz guy, and Gerwitz ends up going back into his house and comes back out, gets in his car and drives by him and shoots him out the driver-side window and kills him," Flynn details of the incident.
Gerwitz drove away from the incident, but returned to the area two hours later and retreated back inside of his Morgan Street apartment while City of Tonawanda Police investigated the crime scene down the street. Once inside of the residence, he intentionally fired multiple shots at four police officers who were outside of the apartment.
One of the police officers, Detective David Ljiljanich, was shot multiple times, but luckily was wearing a bulletproof vest. He was transported to ECMC, where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
The other three officers were not injured.
Gerwitz then tried to drive off and exchanged gunfire with two police officers during their pursuit. Gerwitz was apprehended after a brief high-speed chase that ended a short distance away when police rammed his car with their patrol vehicles on Morgan Street near Kohler Street.
A police lieutenant suffered a sprained wrist and a back injury as a result of the collision. Another officer, who was in a separate patrol vehicle, was unharmed.
"This kind of action, it happens in the movies. You don't see that every day here, you don't see that everyday anywhere in this country," Flynn said. "I don't think I'm being too overdramatic here by saying this could be No. 2, as far as crazy crime scenes and crazy incidents that we've had in the past 10 years in this town."
During the investigation, three illegal handguns, or ghost guns, were found inside Gerwitz's residence. The 9 mm handgun Gerwitz used to fatally shoot Marasco was one he made through internet information. As for the assault weapon he used to shoot Detective Ljiljanich, he had modified that gun at home.
Flynn commended the work of the City of Tonawanda Police Department for their work as the lead agency in the investigation into the incident. He also commends the teamwork between the City of Tonawanda Police, the Erie County Sheriff's Office and his office for bringing Gerwitz to justice.
"A lot of these suburban communities don't have the resources that the Buffalo Police Department has. You're talking about a huge crime scene here. You're talking about the corner of Morgan and Clinton Street, and that expanded area outside. You're talking about the apartment, the stairwell, and the area immediately outside the apartment on Morgan Street. And then thirdly, you're talking about the accident scene where they were able to expertly get him off the road. You have three separate crime scenes here, again, very unusual. It happened once in my seven years here. When you have that kind of a complex crime scene, you need help. Some of these suburban agencies need help, and the City of Tonawanda did the right thing and called in the Sheriff's Department. And the Sheriff's Department came and assisted them with whatever they needed.
"[Between] the City of Tonawanda [Police], Nick Bussi, and the Sheriff [John Garcia], those three entities right there are responsible for getting this guy 65 years-to-life today."
