A woman who lied to a federal grand jury about her cousin’s involvement in two homicides in Buffalo, New York, has pleaded guilty to making false declarations before a grand jury and obstruction of justice, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Shanna Smith, 25, of Buffalo, apparently lied to the grand jury to protect her cousin Dalvon Curry from criminal prosecution. She is scheduled to be sentenced on October 16, 2020.
Operation Hashtag
In May 2017, federal prosecutors convened a grand jury to assist with a joint Buffalo Police Department/FBI investigation of the CBL/BFL gang. The gang operated out of the Towne Gardens Apartments on the east side of Buffalo.
Curry was a founding member of the BFL gang, and an aspiring rapper who was active on social media. He produced and performed in several music videos that were shot in and around Towne Gardens and featured members and associates of CBL/BFL.
The murder of Jaquan Sullivan
On December 5, 2015, Curry shot and killed rival gang member Jaquan Sullivan on Parkdale Avenue. Sullivan’s gang, The Guys, was located on the west side. According to prosecutors, there was a shoot-on-sight rivalry between the two groups.
Curry was standing in front of a friend’s house when Sullivan appeared behind him and the two men got into a shootout. Sullivan was shot once in the chest and once in the lower right hip. Police found a loaded gun near his body.
In January 2016, Curry tweeted about the shooting: “[B]eef is when we both armed and shoot until someone is dead.”
Curry was questioned twice by police and claimed that he was with Smith all day and never left her house. Smith confirmed Curry’s alibi to the police on two separate occasions. She later recanted the alibi after a detective showed her surveillance video of Curry in a convenience store near the scene of the shooting, minutes before the shooting.
During the same interview, Smith said that Curry told her he was there with two other people but he didn’t kill Sullivan.
Smith also said that she was at a New Year’s Eve party at Towne Gardens where a man was killed and that Curry had nothing to do with it.
The murder of Xavier Wimes
On January 1, 2017, Curry shot and killed fellow CBL/BFL gang member Xavier Wimes during a New Year’s Eve party at Towne Gardens. Curry and Wimes had argued on Facebook the day before.
At around 1:00 a.m., Wimes confronted Curry and hit him in the head with a bottle. Several gang members attacked Wimes and forced him into an apartment. Wimes jumped out of a window to escape, and Curry shot him in a nearby parking lot.
Curry’s DNA was found on the murder weapon.
Smith’s grand jury testimony
Smith was subpoenaed to testify as a witness before the CBL/BFL grand jury on July 31, 2018.
She testified that she went to the party with Curry, but she couldn’t remember who else was there because she was was drunk at the time.
Smith said that Wimes came in the building and hit Curry in the head with a bottle, knocking him unconscious, then all the men at the party jumped Wimes. She said that Wimes pulled himself upstairs, jumped out of a window, and ran towards a parking lot. The men chased Wimes and jumped him again.
Smith said that she grabbed Curry and pulled him outside, then she heard gunshots. She said that she was holding Curry on her shoulders when he spotted a gun in the grass, picked it up, and threw it into the bushes. They ran to a parking lot and got in a black car, and the owner drove them to Buffalo General Medical Center.
Smith is indicted
On July 11, 2019, Smith was indicted for her false testimony about the Wimes homicide. The indictment alleged that Smith did not see twenty men chasing Wimes, that she did not see Curry retrieve a gun from the grass and throw it into the bushes, that she did not help him to a parking lot, and that she did not accompany him to the hospital.
Several witnesses at Curry’s trial testified that Smith was not present at the party.
A police officer testified that Curry was transported to Erie County Medical Center by ambulance.
Curry was convicted of two murders in aid of racketeering and multiple other charges in February 2020.