Jury takes seven hours to find Riccardo McCray guilty

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A jury has found Riccardo McCray guilty of the shooting rampage outside of City Grill last August.

He was found guilty of three first degree murder charges, a weapons charge, two first degree attempted murder charges, but found innocent of one charge of attempted murder. Another of the attempted murder charges was dropped by prosecutors towards the end of the trial. The jury did not consider the one count of second degree murder McCray faced.

Prosecutor James Bargnesi said the case came together well and that the surveillance video from the scene played a crucial role. He said McCray is a savage who is capable of anything, and District Attorney Frank Sedita added that he is a murderer, plain and simple.

It was hard to see McCray's reaction to the verdict. He was surrounded by six deputies from the Erie County Sheriff's office. Judge Sheila DiTullio said she wanted quiet in the courtroom when the verdict was read, and for the most part, victims family members did. There were a few sniffles in the court, but it was otherwise quiet as the jury read the verdict.

One family member of a victim said, "It was pure joy, but I was kind of confident at the beginning that a guilty verdict was going to come back just from the evidence that they had and from some of the witnesses. Mr. Bargnesi did a wonderful job."

Another victim's family member added, "God bless the jury, the DA, to get justice for my child and everybody else. God is good."

The jury started deliberating around 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon. The verdict was returned just after 10:30 p.m. Prosecutors called 49 witnesses over the course of seven days, including five eyewitnesses. The jury asked for the testimony of Gerry Davis to be read back to them. Davis was a key witness for the prosecution who testified he was in the getaway car with McCray and helped dispose of the murder weapon.

McCray faces 50 years to life in state prison when sentenced.

We will have much more on this story, including interviews with the prosecutor and DA, as well as other victims' family members, on News 4's WakeUp!

  >>  The shooting rampage killed four people in August

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  >>  See complete trial coverage

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