BUFFALO, N.Y. — Najae Lanier was only 17 years old when she was killed.
Lanier was attending a teen and pre-teen birthday party in the city's Black Rock neighborhood in the summer of 2021.
Ja'Vair Walker, 21, was arrested the following year after leaving town with his family. He was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Ohio.
He was sentenced to 25 years to life by Erie County Court Judge Sheila DiTulio. There was applause in the courtroom when the sentence was handed down.
"You, the adult, pulled out a gun and fired a shot into the victim's upper chest at close range," the judge said to the defendant. "You and your family ran away to hide in another state, so cowardly.
"But Mr. Walker it all caught up with you. You didn't think the young girls would testify, they did. They were the strong ones, the heroes. They remembered every detail that evening and again they remembered you."
Twelve and 14-year-old girls who were at the party testified at the jury trial.
Tajjia Anderson, the victim's mother, spoke before the convicted killer was sentenced.
"Seventeen years old, and my daughter had a whole life ahead of her," Anderson said. "She had just got her first job. She was about to graduate high school, and get her driver's license, and start college in a year or so. She had dreams and plans, but that was all taken away from her."
She cried and said: "I don't know if there is a right age to die, but I do know it isn't 17 years old."
Walker spoke briefly in court.
"I understand the seriousness of this crime of discharge, so first and foremost, I want to say I'm sorry for the loss of Najae Lanier," he said. "My deepest condolences goes out to her and her family.
"But from day one I retain my innocence, and I'm here today to tell you that I still and always will retain my innocence. I'm no monster, no menace to society, and I won't harm anybody."