Jurors weighing the fate of Richard J. Walls in the 2024 shooting death of 20-year-old Md Rawnaq Ratin are set to resume deliberations Thursday. The case centers on a parking dispute on Cedar Road in Cheektowaga that ended with Ratin fatally shot, and jurors now must sort through dueling self-defense and aggressor narratives before reaching a verdict.
The jury was expected to begin deliberating Monday, with the judge set to instruct jurors that morning. Deliberations are set to resume Thursday, according to The Buffalo News.
What Jurors Must Decide
Walls is on trial for murder in Ratin's death, and jurors may consider a lesser manslaughter charge, as reported by Yahoo News. A second-degree murder conviction carries a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Competing Accounts Of The Shooting
The shooting grew out of a dispute over parking in October 2024, the same account notes. Walls testified that he acted in self-defense when he shot Ratin during the confrontation on Cedar Road, while prosecutors described Walls as the aggressor in the incident and argued he intentionally shot and killed Ratin, rejecting the self-defense claim entirely.
Walls' attorney, meanwhile, argued that Ratin and his friends instigated the confrontation and acted aggressively toward his client, per the same account. The conflicting versions of who started the altercation now sit at the heart of what jurors must resolve when they return Thursday.
A previous report from the Buffalo News, published before the trial began, noted that Walls faced up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted. Deliberations are set to resume Thursday.
