A teenage beef led to Halloween party gunfire early Saturday in Lockport, but none of the victims – a 20-year-old woman who was killed and five others wounded – had anything to do with that dispute, authorities said Wednesday as they announced the arrest of two Lockport teenagers.
The announcement came on the day Cheyenne Farewell was buried. The SUNY Brockport student from Medina would have turned 21 in December. She died minutes after being shot when eight rounds tore through a closed metal garage door at 43 S. Niagara St.
Under New York State's new Raise the Age law, the male suspects' names were not released because of their ages, 16 and 17.
Niagara County District Attorney Caroline A. Wojtaszek, however, said the pair eventually could be tried as adults and face the adult maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison if convicted of murder.
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Lockport Police Chief Steven K. Abbott said the arrests were made at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
At a news conference in the Niagara County Courthouse in Lockport, he stood with all of the police department's detectives, whom he said had worked around the clock since Saturday to solve the case, along with help from the Niagara County Violent Crime Task Force and other agencies.
The suspects were held overnight at Lockport Police Headquarters until they were taken to Niagara Falls, where they were arraigned at 12:45 p.m. Wednesday in Niagara County Youth Court, Wojtaszek said.
Judge Diane M. Vitello set bail for each defendant at $500,000 cash or $1 million bond. They are to appear again in Youth Court at 9:30 a.m. Monday.
Wojtaszek said the two were each charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, but more charges could come, including a possible count of murder with depraved indifference to human life.
"I cannot imagine a situation that exemplifies depraved indifference (more) than shooting into a closed garage door, knowing that there's people behind that door," Wojtaszek said.
The suspects have not yet been charged with anything in regard to the five wounded partygoers, but Wojtaszek said they will be.
Wojtaszek said those victims were a 21-year-old female, an 18-year-old male, a 16-year-old male, a 16-year-old female and a 15-year-old male. Two of the wounded were from Lockport, two from Medina and one from Corfu.
"Every single day in this job, I hear about illegal guns in the hands of our young people. Shooting over what? A grudge?" Wojtaszek said. "You cannot take these deaths back. Cheyenne Farewell was not part of this dispute. She was not part of the grudge between the people involved in this situation. She was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and so were the other five victims in this case."
Wojtaszek would not say whether those the suspects had a grudge against were at the party at the time of the shooting. Police need more evidence, she said.
"It could have been any one of our children, so I need parents of children that were at that party to encourage them to come forward and speak the truth about what happened," the DA said.
"Many young people attended the party, and they may be concerned that their parents (may) find out. They may be even discouraged from others to participate in this case in any way. But we need your courage to come forward with anything you may know that would assist us," Wojtaszek said.
"This was a tragedy beyond words. Cheyenne was an innocent victim. She deserves justice. Her family deserves justice and her community deserves justice," Wojtaszek said.
Wojtaszek said she started "Operation Safe Cam" in 2017 so homeowners and businesses could tell police that they have cameras outside.
"This case is a good example of video footage and how it can help in a case," she said.
A video taken by a surveillance camera and shown to reporters Saturday by its owner showed two men walking to 43 S. Niagara St., then emerging into a well-lighted area and firing shots at the closed metal side door of the garage.
Four muzzle flashes were caught on the video.
The shooters backed away from the garage as they fired, disappearing from camera range behind the neighboring house. Seconds later, people started running from the garage and the house at 43 S. Niagara. The timer on the video said the shooting occurred at 12:15 a.m.
Eight bullet holes were found in the garage door.
Abbott criticized the Raise the Age law, which generally keeps 16- and 17-year-old defendants out of adult court except in violent cases.
"We've had arrests for juveniles, 16 or 17 range, they've gotten appearance tickets for Family Court," Abbott said. "Guess what they do? They're allowed to walk out the door. When you do that, you're setting a precedent, because now these people feel emboldened. I understand the need when young adults make mistakes. When you're dealing with guns and the death of innocents, there is no room for mistakes."
