Margus D. Morrison, 52, a Black man, was killed on May 14, 2022, in Buffalo, New York, when an ordinary errand turned into a nightmare at the Tops Friendly Markets on Jefferson Avenue. He was a lifelong Buffalonian whose days were shaped by showing up for other people: family first, and then the children and parents who counted on him in his work as a school bus aide.
People who knew him described a man with a big presence—quick laughter, easy jokes, and a kind of energy that carried into a room before he did.
That Saturday afternoon, the store was a familiar stop, the kind of place you go without thinking twice. He had gone in for food—ingredients for dinner, a simple purchase with the rhythm of a weekend—when a gunman arrived in tactical gear and began firing, first outside and then inside the market. In minutes, the aisles and entrances that served as a neighborhood hub became a killing ground, and Morrison was among the ten people who would not make it home.
In the days that followed, the details that rose to the surface were the ones that made him feel close again: his devotion to his children, the pride he took in work that kept kids safe, and the small personal signatures people remembered—like his love of quiet walks, his Bills fandom, his smile, and the way he could make grief soften for a moment with humor. When he was laid to rest at True Bethel Baptist Church on May 27, 2022, the service became both a farewell and a public promise that the community would carry the names of the dead forward, even as it demanded justice for how they were taken.
The sole suspect, Payton Gendron, was taken into custody at the scene on May 14, 2022, after police confronted him outside the store and he ultimately dropped his weapon. Prosecutors and investigators described the attack as racially motivated and aimed at Black shoppers in a predominantly Black area of the city. In the immediate aftermath, he was charged in state court and entered not-guilty pleas as the case moved through indictments that included domestic terrorism motivated by hate and multiple murder counts tied to the ten deaths.
The state case later ended in conviction when Gendron pleaded guilty on November 28, 2022, to charges that included domestic terrorism motivated by hate and murder, and on February 15, 2023, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, along with additional consecutive prison time reflected in court filings. Separate federal proceedings have continued: a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging hate crimes resulting in death and related counts, and federal prosecutors later authorized pursuit of the death penalty. As of the most recently reported scheduling updates, the federal case has been set on a timeline reaching into 2026, with jury-related proceedings and trial dates placed in August 2026 amid ongoing motions and litigation.
