On New Year's Day in 2017, Shanna Mason, a 30-year-old Black mother of three, was fatally shot outside a residence on Gold Street in Buffalo, New York. The incident occurred in the morning, around 10:15 AM. Mason was a beloved daughter, sister, and mother to three children aged 4, 7, and 11 at the time of her death. Her mother expressed the profound grief of losing a child to violence.
The investigation into her death led to the arrest of 32-year-old Nadiyah Whitaker of Cheektowaga.
Prosecutors revealed that the motive behind the shooting was a love triangle involving Mason and Whitaker. Whitaker's attorney described the act as a 'crime of passion.' The situation reportedly escalated after a marriage license was issued the day before the shooting, though it was not specified for whom. There was video evidence of the incident that showed the defendant firing multiple shots.
Initially, Nadiyah Whitaker was charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Eight days after the murder, she was arrested. In a development in the case, Whitaker later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter in November 2017. In December of that year, she was sentenced to 19 years in prison, which would be followed by five years of post-release supervision. The resolution of the legal proceedings brought a degree of closure to Shanna Mason's grieving family.
