BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Erie County District Attorney's Office announced that 41-year-old Ronald T. O’Neil of Buffalo pleaded guilty Tuesday in Erie County Court to one count of second-degree murder and one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
The DA said that on May 26, 2024, O'Neil intentionally fired an illegal gun at 42-year-old Darius R. Spates, Jr. multiple times on the 3100 block of Main Street near Winspear Avenue in Buffalo. Spates suffered a gunshot wound to his back and was taken in a private vehicle to ECMC, where he was pronounced dead.
O’Neil is scheduled to be sentenced on August 8, 2025. He faces a maximum of 25 years to life in prison, and he remains held without bail.
