10th Street Gang Member Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison

As part of the 10th Street Gang’s war with rival gangs on the West Side of Buffalo, on or about April 17, 2006, the defendant, along with numerous other 10th Street gang member accomplices, retaliated against individuals they suspected to be rival gang members. In the process, Darinell Young and Brandon MacDonald, who were not rival gang members but were merely at the wrong place at the wrong time, were shot to death.

In preparation for the April 17, 2006 murders, the defendant and other 10th Street gang members obtained various firearms, and were driven to a location on Buffalo’s lower West Side where the defendant and others believed that rival 7th Street gang members were located. The defendant and other 10th Street Gang members and associates met, and were armed with several guns. The defendant and other 10th Street Gang members fired numerous shots at a group of individuals they believed to be rival gang members who were outside of a residence on Pennsylvania Street, Buffalo, New York. Dozens of shots were fired from the various firearms possessed by the defendant and the other 10th Street gang members who participated in the shooting. Victims Brandon MacDonald and Darinell Young were shot and killed as a result of injuries sustained during the shooting. Additional victims, identified as “P.D.,” “M.A.,” and “A.W.,” suffered gunshot wounds but survived the shooting. Thereafter, the defendant and the other 10th Street gang members and associates fled the scene. The defendant and his accomplices hid their firearms inside the trunk of a vehicle, which was waiting with a getaway driver in a nearby alley.