Nov. 16 -- LOCKPORT -- Jury selection for the second trial of a Falls man, facing murder, robbery and weapons charges, will begin on Dec. 2.
In July, a Niagara County Court jury deadlocked on the charges against Gabriel T. Moyer, saying they could only reach a verdict on two of the four counts against him. That prompted County Court Judge John Ottaviano to declare a mistrial in the case.
The jurors, who had deliberated for roughly three days, found Moyer not guilty on charges of second-degree felony murder and first-degree robbery but said they could not reach a unanimous verdict on charges of second-degree intentional murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Ottaviano dismissed the jury and said he would set a date for the selection of a new jury and a new trial after Niagara County prosecutors immediately said they would retry the case.
Moyer, 20, was indicted by a grand jury on the murder, robbery and weapons counts in connection with the June 2022 murder of Keith Agee. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges and has been held without bail since his indictment.
In June, Moyer rejected a plea offer from Niagara County prosecutors. First Assistant District Attorney Doreen Hoffmann, who has been the lead prosecutor on the case, did not reveal the terms of the plea offer in open court, saying only that Moyer had "rejected" it.
Falls Police patrol officers said they were called to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center at around 11:15 p.m. June 4, 2022, after a man suffering from a gunshot wound to the head was brought to ER 1 in a private vehicle. The victim, Agee, 26, of the Falls, was stabilized and transported to the Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo.
The next day, Agee died as a result of his wound.
Falls Police Criminal Investigation Division (CID) detectives said they were able to determine that Agee had been sitting in the passenger seat of a car in the 2400 block of LaSalle Avenue when an "unknown shooter" walked up and shot him through an open window.
Officers and detectives, assisted by a K-9 unit from the Niagara County Sheriff's Office, searched the area around the crime scene and reportedly located at least one live bullet in a patch of grass near the roadway.
Five days later, Moyer was located in an Amherst motel by members of the U.S. Marshals Task Force, and taken into custody. Investigators have not said what evidence led them to Moyer as a suspect in the murder.
Neither police nor prosecutors have commented on a possible motive for the slaying. However, law enforcement sources have told the Gazette that a dispute over a marijuana deal may have triggered the killing.