In the early hours of a November morning in Rochester, New York, a dispute inside a local bar tragically escalated, ending the life of 29-year-old Sean Semprie. On November 13, 2021, Rochester Police Officers were called to the Black Bear Pub on West Ridge Road, where they discovered Semprie in the back parking lot suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
He was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Investigations into the shooting revealed that Semprie had been involved in an argument with another man, Jose Acevedo, inside the pub earlier that evening. After the bar closed, the conflict spilled out into the parking lot. It was there that Acevedo approached Semprie and shot him at point-blank range. It was determined that the two men were known to each other.
Following a thorough investigation by the Rochester Police Department, Jose Acevedo was identified as the perpetrator. On March 11, 2024, an indictment was unsealed, charging Acevedo with the homicide. At the time of the indictment, Acevedo was already incarcerated in the New York State Department of Corrections on unrelated gun charges.
On September 10, 2025, 34-year-old Jose Acevedo pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the 1st Degree for causing the death of Sean Semprie. He was subsequently sentenced to 22 years in the New York State Department of Corrections, to be followed by five years of post-release supervision. The resolution of the case brought a measure of accountability for the violent act that cut short a young man's life.
