4 sentenced for roles in fatal stabbing of man in Lake View woods
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Four people were sentenced on Tuesday in connection with a fatal stabbing in Lake View in 2022, the Erie County District Attorney’s office said.
The group, led by 27-year-old Jared Adamski, lured 25-year-old Brenden Benoit into the woods off of Heltz Road in the early morning hours of July 10, 2022. It is alleged that once Benoit arrived at the wooded area, which the group told him was for a party, he was punched by one of the defendants and attempted to retreat into the vehicle to escape. During the attack, Adamski stabbed Beniot in the legs multiple times and then abandoned him in the woods. Benoit died at the scene.
Adamski was sentenced to the maximum of 25 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and tampering with physical evidence in May.
Three of Adamski’s accomplices were also sentenced on Tuesday. Twenty-year-old Kayleigh Skybyk-Schuh was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 22-year-old Harrison Drozen received 12 years in prison on first-degree manslaughter. Skybyk-Schuh, who drove Benoit to the scene, was also charged with tampering with physical evidence.
In addition, 22-year-old Connor Krone was sentenced to time served followed by five years of post-release supervision on an assault charge.
Acting Erie County DA Mike Keane said that the case started with Skybyk-Schuh falsely accusing Benoit of sexually assaulting her, which led to retaliation from the group.
“The parents of this young man who is gone, they’re outraged by this,” Keane said during a news conference Tuesday. “Not only by his death, but they’re outraged for the reasons that it happened. That it started with a lie and that it started with a false accusation.”
Keane said that the family was very involved in the case. Keane said that Krone did cooperate with authorities while Skybyk-Schuh and Drozen did not, which was considered in the sentencings.
The final defendant, Elexus Dean, previously pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence and will be sentenced at a later date. She faces a maximum of four years in prison. A sixth defendant was granted youthful offender status and was previously sentenced. WIVB News 4 reporting from 2022 identified her as Larissa Smith, then 18 years old.
Keane said a seventh person was in the group but he left before the attack and immediately cooperated with police, which Keane said helped because the defendants were trying to destroy evidence. They did successfully destroy “some” evidence, according to Keane.
“It’s helpful when we have witnesses and defendants cooperate,” Keane said. “It really helps us figure out exactly what happened here.”
The seventh person was not charged.
“This is a really awful case. It’s a tragedy. This family is devastated,” Keane said. “You can imagine, this is a 25-year-old young man whose life was taken from him and taken from this family. The things that they said about him in the statements they provided to the court, he seemed like he was an amazing young man. I can’t imagine what that loss is like.”
A final order of protection was issued on behalf of a witness.
You can view Tuesday’s full news conference in the media player above.
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Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.
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