Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 27-year-old Markilo Hayes of Buffalo pleaded guilty to two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree before Supreme Court Justice Deborah A. Haendiges.  

The defendant admitted to illegally possessing a loaded firearm on two separate dates.  In the first case, on January 5, 2015, police responded to a 911 call placed by the defendant’s girlfriend stating that Hayes was threatening her family members and had a gun on him.   Police responded to the call and the defendant’s girlfriend took police into a nearby yard where she told them Hayes probably hid the gun.  Following footprints in the snow, Buffalo Police Officer Mark Goodspeed recovered a loaded revolver tucked under a car in that backyard.  The revolver was subsequently determined to have this defendant’s DNA on it. 

In the second case from March 10, 2016, the defendant was speeding through the parking lot of Bennett High School when he ran over a concrete barrier and became stuck.  When Buffalo Police Officers Courtney Tripp and Amanda Rivers approached the car to investigate, they found the defendant to be drunk with a semi-automatic pistol in the center console of his vehicle.  The defendant was out on bail on the first case when he was arrested on the second.    

Hayes is scheduled to be sentenced February 28th at 2:00 p.m. by Justice Haendiges.  He faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 14 years and a maximum sentence of 30 years.  

DA Flynn commends the work of Buffalo Police Officers Mark Goodspeed, Courtney Tripp and Amanda Rivers. 

Assistant District Attorneys Eugene T. Partridge III and Timothy J. Garvin prosecuted the case.