Getzville Man Pleads Guilty for Fatal Shooting in Buffalo's Genesee-Moselle Neighborhood

Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announces that Jahi Pope, 23, of Getzville, pleaded guilty yesterday afternoon before State Supreme Court Justice Betty Calvo-Torres to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree (Class B violent felony). Pope entered a guilty plea to the reduced charge in full satisfaction of the indictment.

On Monday, July 29, 2024, at approximately 5:42 p.m., Buffalo Police responded to a shooting on the 1400 block of Broadway near Liddell Street. The victim, 19-year-old Naszair E. Sanders, was pronounced dead at the scene. The defendant admitted to being a participant in the fatal shooting of the victim.

Pope faces a maximum of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. He remains held without bail.

DA Keane commends Detective Sergeant Sean McCabe, Detective Jose Lorenzo, Detective Judith Walker, Detective Jerry Guilian, Detective Michelle Palamara, Officer Andrew Moffet and Office Joshua Kaczmarek of the Buffalo Police Department as well as the Amherst Police Department and Erie County Crime Analysis Center for their work in this investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Justin H. Caldwell of the Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Abbi L. Fuhrken of the Domestic Violence Bureau.