Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announces that Denzel T. Maye, 29, of Buffalo, was sentenced this afternoon before Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan to 18 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Maye was sentenced as a second violent felony offender.
On Thursday, October 24, 2024, at approximately 2:00 p.m., the defendant shot the victim with an illegal gun on Potomac Avenue near Elmwood Avenue in the City of Buffalo. The victim, 52-year-old Howard Shelton, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Maye was convicted of the second count of the indictment, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (Class C violent felony) following a four-day trial in November 2025. Jurors were unable to come to a unanimous decision on the first count. In March, May pleaded guilty to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree (Class B violent felony), a lesser included offense in the top count of the indictment, before his second trial, which was scheduled to commence in late July 2026.
DA Keane commends Detective Sergeant Keith Fitzner and Detective Mark White of the Buffalo Police Department for their work in this investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Frank A. Strano of the Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Megan A. Connelly of the Felony Trials Bureau.