(WNY News Now) – A Buffalo woman will serve 18 years to life in prison for the fatal shooting of a 39-year-old man in the city’s Fillmore-Leroy neighborhood last year.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announced that 30-year-old Latrice T. Purdie of Buffalo was sentenced on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, before Erie County Court Judge Kenneth Case to an indeterminate term of 18 years to life in state prison.
The sentencing stems from a fatal shooting that occurred on October 30, 2024, around 6:00 p.m., on Wade Avenue near Holden Street in Buffalo. Prosecutors said Purdie intentionally shot 39-year-old Akeem Cortez with an illegal firearm. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
In August 2025, Purdie pleaded guilty to one count of Murder in the Second Degree (Class A-I felony) and one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (Class C violent felony). She entered guilty pleas to all charges listed in the indictment…