Buffalo Woman Pleads Guilty for Fatal Shooting of Female Victim in City's Emerson Neighborhood

Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announces that Shana A. Rowe, 40, of Buffalo, pleaded guilty yesterday morning before Erie County Court Judge Suzanne Maxwell Barnes to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree (Class "B" violent felony). The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge in full satisfaction of the indictment on the morning jury selection was scheduled to begin in her trial.

On Wednesday, June 12, 2024, at approximately 8:45 p.m., the defendant shot the victim with an illegal gun on the 100 block of Liddell Street in the City of Buffalo. The victim, 43-year-old Shawneequa Pearson, was taken by ambulance to ECMC where she later died.

Rowe faces a maximum of 25 years in prison when she is sentenced on Monday, April 14, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. She remains held without bail.

DA Keane commends the Buffalo Police Department for their work in this investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Justin H. Caldwell of the Homicide Bureau and Chief Andres D. Ortiz of the Buffalo City Court Bureau.