Sep. 2—LOCKPORT — A Falls man accused of killing a teenager during a melee in Jordan Gardens in May has pleaded guilty in that case and two others.
Gabriel Behrens, 22, pleaded guilty before Niagara County Court Judge Caroline Wojtaszek to first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Elijah Lopez on Feb. 20. Behrens also pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted first-degree robbery for an armed robbery that occurred in an alleyway off Niagara Street a week later, on Feb. 26, and pleaded guilty to a single count of attempted second-degree criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in June 2022.
The pleas were the result of a deal with Niagara County prosecutors. Behrens could face a sentence of up to 35 years in prison as a result of his pleas.
“This individual’s criminal conduct quickly escalated from possession of an illegal weapon to armed robbery and to manslaughter resulting in the loss of a young man’s life,” Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman said. “He will now spend the next three decades in prison, a lengthy sentence but small consolation to Elijah Lopez’s family.”
Behrens was already facing the robbery and weapons possession charges in May when he was indicted by a Niagara County grand jury in connection with the murder of Lopez, 16. He died from a gunshot wound to his chest following a melee in Jordan Gardens.
Falls Police patrol officers had responded to the housing development for a report of “shots fired” and found Lopez lying on the grass in front of a townhome there. Falls firefighters and EMTs performed CPR on him before he was taken by ambulance to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center.
He was pronounced dead at the medical center a short time later.
Criminal Investigation Division detectives said at the time that they were investigating a report that Lopez and other teens may have been involved in a fight before the shooting. Investigators later confirmed that there had been “a disturbance among a bunch of young people that led up to (the shooting).”
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Falls Police Crime Scene Unit investigators were observed collecting evidence in and around the area where Lopez’s body was found. Law enforcement sources said detectives had canvassed Jordan Gardens in a search for both witnesses and security or surveillance camera video that may have captured the shooting.
The Gazette later learned that investigators found a video recording, believed to have been shot on a cell phone before the shooting, that appeared to show a woman in Jordan Gardens carrying what looked like a rife or shotgun. That weapon was later linked to Behrens.