Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 23-year-old Ziykeyun Prather of Buffalo has been sentenced by State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia to an indeterminate sentence of 18 years to life in prison.

The defendant admitted that on June 7, 2018, at approximately 3 p.m., he fatally shot 21-year-old Jomar Lopez-Escalera on Fillmore Avenue near Riley Street in the City of Buffalo.

In August 2018, Prather pleaded guilty to one count of Murder in the Second Degree, the highest charge in the indictment against him.

DA Flynn commends the Buffalo Police Department for their immediate action that led to the arrest of the suspect as well as the investigative work of Det. Christopher Sterlace, Det. Scott Malec and Officer Thomas Sullivan.

The case was prosecuted by Colleen Curtin Gable, Chief of the DA’s Homicide Bureau.