Man allegedly harasses grieving mother

TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WIVB) - There's more trouble for the man who was questioned but never charged with the death of a Lewiston woman.

For years he has maintained his innocence in a suspicious death, but now it may have crossed the line into harassment of a grieving mother.

Leslie Brill said, "I'm scared to death. There's no reason for this."

Brill says that Antoine Garner has been harassing her, and Tuesday he gave a lewd gesture to our camera as he returned to Tonawanda City Court on a charge of harassment. He's also charged with felony assault in Buffalo for allegedly choking a woman two weeks ago.

Garner has been a person of interest with police for almost three years now since Amanda Wienkowski disappeared for a month and then was found dead in a garbage tote right across the street from his house. An autopsy ruled she died of an accidental drug overdose, but he may be the last one to see her alive.

In December of 2009, Garner told News 4, "I'm sorry for your loss. I never hurt your daughter."

>> Watch the full 27-minute interview with Garner here

Garner said that a year after Amanda's death, but then six months after that he posted a sign in front of his house as Amanda's family held a birthday vigil for her. But the family continues to seek justice for what they believe was a murder.

"He texted me, he put it on Facebook, he let everybody know how he felt about myself and my daughter who is gone and then he called me and told me I had a death wish," said Brill.

Amanda's sister, Allyssa Midzinski, said, "He messaged her on Facebook telling her she's white trash just like her daughter and how the black power always wins and he'll always win."

Brill said, "You can't go around intimidating people, whether or not he did murder my daughter, you don't intimidate somebody to scare them."

Antoine Garner is due back in Tonawanda City Court November 15th on the harassment charge.