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Witness pleads guilty to lying to grand jury about a murder

Photo: Dalvon Curry – Facebook, Jaquan Sullivan – National Gun Violence Memorial

Updated: December 21, 2019

A Buffalo man accused of lying to a grand jury about a murder he witnessed has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

Demetrius “Little D” Lowry, 24, was indicted in May for lying to a grand jury about the murder of his cousin Jaquan Sullivan.

Sullivan was shot and killed in front of Lowry’s house on Parkdale Avenue in Buffalo on the evening of December 5, 2015.

Lowry’s different statements to authorities

Lowry met with homicide detectives on December 8, 2015, and provided details of the shooting including the identity of the shooter. The meeting was recorded on video, and Lowry provided two written statements.

On December 17, 2015, he sent a text message to a police tip line stating that the information he had previously provided was wrong and he did not know the identity of the shooter. 

On February 18, 2016, Lowry admitted to homicide detectives that the tip line message was not true and wrote “not true” on a copy of the message. He also signed and dated the copy.

On July 12, 2018, Lowry was interviewed by FBI agents and he provided a different account of the shooting.

On July 31, 2018, Lowry provided false testimony to a federal grand jury investigating the murder. He denied that he provided two written statements to detectives on December 8, 2015, and claimed that the detectives had him initial and sign blank pages. Lowry also denied writing “not true” on a copy of the tip line message on February 18, 2016.

The plea deal

Under the terms of the plea deal, Lowry is facing up to 7 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and 1 to 3 years of supervised release. The government also agreed to drop a second charge pending against him. Lowry is scheduled to be sentenced on March 6, 2020. He is free pending sentencing.

Dalvon Curry accused of murder

According to prosecutors, Sullivan was killed by a rival gang member named Dalvon Curry. Curry is an alleged member of the CBL/BFL street gang. He is also accused of killing another man named Xavier Wimes. Curry was charged with two murders in aid of racketeering in August 2018. He pled not guilty, and his trial is set to begin on January 6, 2020. 

Shanna Smith accused of lying to grand jury

A woman named Shanna Smith was recently indicted for lying to the same grand jury about the murder of Wimes. She pled not guilty, and her trial is set to begin on March 9, 2020.

CBL/BFL gang indicted

Thirteen members and associates of CBL/BFL were indicted on an array of charges in August 2018. Ten defendants have already pled guilty.

Update: Lead defendant Shawn Woods pleaded guilty on December 13.

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