A Buffalo man will spend the next two decades in state prison for gunning down a 47-year-old neighbor on a Riverside street last fall. Sir Raven Rodgers, 31, was sentenced to 20 years behind bars Tuesday for the October 2025 killing of Rafael Ruiz Quinones, who was shot and later pronounced dead at the scene near Isabelle Street and Laird Avenue.
Rodgers was sentenced before Erie County Court Judge Kenneth F. Case as a second violent felony offender, according to the Erie County District Attorney's Office. Prosecutors specified that Rodgers shot and killed Quinones using an illegal firearm on Isabelle Street near Laird Avenue, the same office said. As reported by WIVB News 4, the shooting happened around 9:30 p.m. on October 14, 2025, and Rodgers will be subject to five years of post-release supervision once he leaves prison.
The sentence stems from a plea deal that significantly reduced Rodgers's legal exposure. He was originally indicted on November 10, 2025, by an Erie County grand jury on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon before State Supreme Court Justice Paul B. Wojtaszek, per the district attorney's office. Had he been convicted on the top murder charge, Rodgers faced a statutory maximum penalty of 25 years to life in prison, that office noted.
From Murder Charge to Manslaughter Plea
Instead, Rodgers pleaded guilty in July to one count of first-degree manslaughter, per the station's earlier report. Under New York law, First-Degree Manslaughter is a Class B violent felony carrying a maximum penalty of 25 years in state prison, according to WNY News Now. Because Rodgers was classified as a second violent felony offender, his sentencing range was narrower than a typical first-time defendant's.
Under New York Penal Law § 70.04, a defendant sentenced as a second violent felony offender for a Class B violent felony faces a mandatory determinate prison sentence between 10 and 25 years, according to the New York State Senate. That enhancement traces back to a prior conviction: in June 2018, the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division Fourth Department affirmed Rodgers's earlier conviction for second-degree robbery, for which he had been sentenced to eight years in prison, according to FindLaw. That prior robbery conviction became the legal predicate that pushed his sentence toward the upper end of the mandatory range rather than the minimum.
Investigators and Prosecutors Behind the Case
The homicide investigation was handled by Buffalo Police Department Detective Joseph Ruggiero, and the case was prosecuted by Major Crimes Bureau Chief Christopher S. Safulko and Homicide Bureau Assistant District Attorney Ryan M. Flaherty, per the district attorney's office.
Illegal Guns and Buffalo's Falling Homicide Count
The weapon used in Quinones's killing fits into a broader pattern city officials have been tracking. Through late August 2026, the City of Buffalo recorded 14 homicides, a 60% reduction compared with the five-year average of 35 homicides during the same period from 2021 to 2025, according to the City of Buffalo. Over that same stretch, Buffalo Police officers seized 437 illegal firearms and made 282 gun-related arrests, the city reported.
The specific circumstances that led to the shooting on Isabelle Street, along with any relationship between Rodgers and Quinones, have not been detailed in court records made public so far. It also remains unclear whether victim impact statements were presented at Tuesday's sentencing hearing.
