LOCKPORT — A Niagara County Court jury took about three and a half hours to reach a verdict in a three and half day trial that found a Falls man guilty on murder and weapons charges.
The jury found Antonio “Yayo” Carr, 30, guilty of second-degree murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and a single count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon for gunning down Tracy Greene, 57, inside the barber shop that bore his name in the 1500 block of 18th Street in the early morning hours of Oct. 2, 2021.
Carr faces a maximum potential prison term of 55 years when he is sentenced in July by Niagara County Court Judge Caroline Wojtaszek. He remains held without bail, pending his sentencing.
Falls Police patrol officers found Green’s bullet-riddled body in his home and barber shop at 1509 18th St. after responding to a call of a “man shot” just before 1 a.m. on Oct. 2, 2021. As officers were racing to the scene, police dispatchers said that a 911 operator was speaking with Green, by phone, and that the victim said he had been shot.
Before officers could reach the home, dispatchers reported that the 911 operator had heard five gunshots. The arriving officers reported that Green had been shot “multiple times.”
Green was declared dead a short time later.
In her closing argument to the jury, First Assistant District Attorney Doreen Hoffmann played video clips, captured by exterior security cameras. The video was edited together with a recording of the victim’s 911 call.
The video showed Carr entering Green’s home and business, as the victim could be heard speaking with the 911 operator. After Carr disappeared into the building, the jury could hear a volley of gunshots on the 911 recording and then saw video of Carr leaving the crime scene.
“This was a cold-blooded killing,” Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman said. “The defendant shot the victim with a small caliber rifle. When those shots weren’t fatal, he left, returned moments later with a 9 mm handgun, and shot him six more times. Some of those shots were fired from directly over the victim while he lay on the floor.”
Seaman said the jury verdict “will ensure that this extremely dangerous individual is off the streets of Niagara Falls for good.”
In addition to Hoffmann, the case was also prosecuted by Executive Assistant District Attorney Mary Jean Bowman.
Neither investigators nor prosecutors commented on the motive for the murder. However, sources close to the investigation have said that Carr and Green were well known to each other.
Carr was taken into custody 10 days after the slaying, when Falls Police Criminal Investigation Division detectives and members of the U.S. Marshals Felony Fugitive Task Force executed a search warrant at the home Carr shared with his girlfriend at 520 18th St. As detectives and officers approached the house, Carr’s girlfriend, Nicole M. McDougall, 31, was sitting outside in her car and tried to warn him of the impending raid by blowing the horn of her vehicle.
She was stopped, taken into custody and charged with second-degree obstructing governmental administration.
Inside the home, detectives located the murder weapons.
In addition to the Green homicide, detectives have said that Carr, no stranger to them, has been a suspect in multiple shootings throughout the Falls. Carr was also a shooting victim in an incident on Sept. 26, 2021 at 19th and Niagara streets.
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