Buffalo Man Pleads Guilty for Fatally Shooting Victim on Kensington Avenue

Friday, May 17, 2024

Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announces that 30-year-old Jerry L. Simpson of Buffalo pleaded guilty yesterday morning before State Supreme Court Justice Debra Givens to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree (Class "B" violent felony).

On Thursday, January 5, 2023, at approximately 10:39 a.m., the defendant shot two victims with an illegal gun on the 900 block of Kensington Avenue near Olympic Avenue in the City of Buffalo. One victim, 37-year-old Jermaine Underwood, was pronounced dead at the scene. The second victim, a 31-year-old male, was taken by ambulance to ECMC where he was treated for injuries to his legs and released from the hospital.

Simpson faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced on Monday, July 8, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. He remains held without bail.

Acting DA Keane commends the Buffalo Police Department Homicide Squad and responding officers for their work in this investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Rebecca L. Schnirel of the Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Daniel N. Celani of the Justice Courts Bureau.