The family of Tyler Lewis, the Buffalo State sophomore who was fatally stabbed near the Ellicott Complex last October, called on the district attorney to arrest the alleged perpetrators at a press conference Monday in front of the Erie County Court.
The Lewis family was accompanied by the family’s legal team and community members, as well as the co-founder of Black Lives Matter, Melina Abdullah.
“Throughout what is considered the grieving stage, we’ve had no time to grieve,” Karla Longmore, Lewis’ girlfriend, said. “We’ve been fighting for justice and having to take matters into our own hands, and that is due to the DA’s incompetency and lack of concern for this case.”
Longmore added that it has been almost five months since Lewis’ murder..
James Williamson, the attorney representing the family of Tyler Lewis, said that the Lewis family’s legal team wants to ensure that whoever is responsible “is brought to justice.”
“Every minute, every second, every hour is building up and causing more unnecessary pain,” Williamson said.
Williamson also confirmed that a grand jury has been convened in connection with the case, which was originally reported by The Spectrum last month.
“It’s really, really important that we understand that the district attorney is not moving for justice for Tyler Lewis because Tyler Lewis is a young Black man,” Abdullah said. “When mothers send our children off to college, we expect those universities to keep our children safe. When we send them to college, we expect the university to treat our children with love and care. That’s not what we’re seeing with Tyler Lewis.”
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said in a statement that his office has “met with the family of Tyler Lewis on numerous occasions” to “regularly provide updates on this ongoing investigation.”
“Any claim that our office has not been transparent with the Lewis family is completely false,” Flynn said.
The Lewis family encourages those that have any information on the incident to come forward using the anonymous tip line set up by the family, which can be reached at (716) 226-6336.
Suha Chowdhury is an assistant news editor and can be reached at suha.chowdhury@ubspectrum.com
