Lawyer for family of Tyler Lewis calls for answers, confirms existence of grand jury

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A lawyer for the family of Tyler Lewis called on the Erie County District Attorney’s office to provide “full transparency” to the Lewis family at the end of their investigation and asked “anyone who knows anything about this crime” to come forward at a family press conference Monday.

The lawyer, James Williamson, also said that the DA’s office had convened a grand jury in the case and that investigators had identified a suspect and “most if not all” the persons of interest.

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“We want to make sure that whenever the time is right — whether that be now, whether it be when the grand jury is over — that we have full transparency as far as what took place on that night, what the investigation so that this family can have the closure that they’ve been deserving for the past 143 days,” Williamson said.

Lewis, a 19-year-old sophomore at Buffalo State University, was fatally stabbed on Oct. 14, 2022 outside the Ellicott Complex on the University at Buffalo’s North Campus. In the days after the stabbing, police said in a statement that the incident “likely stemmed from a physical altercation between several individuals who most likely knew each other.” Other than descriptions of a suspect and a get-away vehicle, authorities have released no other information about the case.   

The grand jury has been in session since at least Jan. 30, according to The Spectrum, UB’s student newspaper.

“While our office cannot comment as the case remains under investigation, we have met with the family of Tyler Lewis on numerous occasions,” Erie County DA John Flynn said in a statement Monday. “We have also spoken with the family regularly to provide updates on this ongoing investigation. Any claim that our office has not been transparent with the Lewis family is completely false.”

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Lewis’ mother, uncle and girlfriend were in attendance, as was another lawyer for the family and a representative from Black Lives Matter.

“It’s been almost five months, and we still don’t have any answers,” an emotional Roquishia Lewis, Tyler Lewis’ mother, said at the beginning of the press conference.

The Lewis family is offering a $4,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and has set up an anonymous tip line that can be reached at (716) 226-6336. Crime Stoppers WNY is offering an award of up to $7,500 and can be reached at (716) 867-6161.

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