Buffalo man charged with manslaughter | News, Sports, Jobs

In this Jan. 24 file photo, a Jamestown police vehicle is pictured outside the Park View Apartments, 401 W. Fourth St.

A Buffalo man has been identified and formally charged in connection with an execution-style homicide in Jamestown.

District Attorney Jason Schmidt announced Wednesday that Darius Kadenhead, 33, was indicted by a grand jury and arraigned in Chautauqua County Court on a charge of second-degree murder in the Jan. 22 shooting death of Marlon Clay at the Parkview Apartments in Jamestown.

Bail was set by the Honorable David W. Foley at $2.5 million cash, $5 million real estate bond, or $10 million secured by the posting of a 10 percent deposit.

Two days after the shooting, Jamestown police announced they had identified a suspect in Clay’s death, but the suspect’s name was not released, saying only that he was a Buffalo resident.

The next day, the suspect was taken into custody and detained in Erie County.

On Wednesday, Schmidt went into detail about Kadenhead’s arrest.

“Mr. Clay was shot in the back of the head. His body was later discovered by a tenant of the apartment complex who alerted police. An intensive investigation was immediately conducted by members of the Jamestown Police Department, the Chautauqua County Forensic Investigation Team, and the District Attorney’s Office, leading to the identification and arrest of Mr. Kadenhead in Buffalo, New York, three days later on January 25. Mr. Kadenhead’s arrest was conducted by our own Jamestown detectives who themselves traveled to the City of Buffalo to make contact with Mr. Kadenhead in coordination with the Buffalo Police Department and the FBI.”

Schmidt added that, “The manner of his death suggests that Mr. Clay was executed. At the time Mr. Kadenhead is accused of committing this brutal and irreversible act, he had been on parole for only four months after being released from prison for a previous manslaughter conviction. When Jamestown detectives approached Mr. Kadenhead, he was found to be in possession of a loaded firearm and was subsequently taken into custody on a parole violation and new weapons charge that is currently being pursued by the Erie County District Attorney’s Office in consultation with me and my office,” he said.

After the indictment, Schmidt said he was legally allowed to share the suspect’s name.

“Removing Mr. Kadenhead from the streets on these charges satisfied our public safety concerns, which are always our number one priority when investigating violent crimes, and allowed us the time needed to continue our efforts to gather evidence that we ultimately presented to a grand jury. The resulting secret indictment was then made public (Tuesday) at the time of Mr. Kadenhead’s arraignment, allowing us to now update the community on these developments,” he said.

Schmidt noted that Clay’s death was the county’s first homicide of 2024, but there have been many others.

“Over the next three months, before the end of April, a total of five confirmed homicides occurred in our relatively small community. That’s more than the number of homicides that occurred in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, in June, if you can believe it,” he said.

Four of the homicides reported in 2024 occurred in Jamestown while one occurred in Silver Creek.

Schmidt thanked investigators for helping to charge a suspect.

“Securing and arranging for the defendant to appear on our indictment is just the first step in a lengthy legal process that could not have begun without the persistence and dedication of the Jamestown Police Department who led the investigation. We owe each of these officers and all police officers our gratitude and support for the difficult, mentally and physically demanding work they do every day,” he said.

For now, Schmidt said his office is completing discovery compliance work and preparing for defense challenges.

“We are scheduled to return to court on August 5 for a discovery compliance conference. Given our busy trial schedule and the litigation that awaits us in this case, I do not expect a trial date until later this year. We will be ready when that time comes,” he said.