Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 23-year-old Michael Santiago, also known as “Bebo,” and 30-year-old Hector Sanchez, also known as “Coli,” both of Buffalo, pleaded guilty on Thursday afternoon before Erie County Court Judge Suzanne Maxwell Barnes to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree (Class “B” violent felony).
On August 7, 2020, at approximately 9:00 p.m., the defendants, while acting in concert with one another, shot 38-year-old Jerry Bonilla Matos multiple times outside of a residence on Newton Street in the City of Buffalo. The victim died at the scene.
Santiago and Sanchez face a maximum of 25 years in prison when they are sentenced on Thursday, April 21, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. Both continue to remain held without bail.
DA Flynn commends the Buffalo Police Department Homicide Squad for their work in the investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Eugene T. Partridge, III of the Homicide Bureau.