BUFFALO, N.Y. — A 21-year-old man, already serving state prison time, has been charged with murder and weapons possession in connection to the shooting death of a 13-year-old Buffalo girl back in July 2023.
Avantae "Tay" Ayala pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment in Erie County Court Wednesday.
Ayala is accused of shooting and killing 13-year-old Miracle Hunt on Mortimer Street near Broadway Avenue in Buffalo on July 7. Hunt was not the intended target according to the Erie County District Attorney's Office but was caught in the crossfire of a disagreement.
She died from a single gunshot to the head.
Hunt's family, including her mother Marie, were in the courtroom for the arraignment. Marie cried at the mention of her daughter's name.
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said Avalya "had beef" with a group of guys after a fight on social media so he went with his own group to settle things.
Instead of hitting someone he'd been fighting with, he shot Hunt who had just left a party with a group of friends and was hanging at the corner with a group of 20 or so people.
"We never gave up on this case," said Flynn at a news conference immediately following the arraignment.
Both Flynn and Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia declined to comment on specifics regarding the evidence used to indict Ayala. They said generically that interviews and technology aided investigators.
Ayala has been arrested five times according to records obtained by the 2 On Your Side through a Freedom of Information Law request. Those arrests span from November 2020 to August 2023.
The accusations against him include crashing several stolen vehicles and possessing a firearm with a license.
Ayala started serving state prison time on March 7 at the Five Points Correctional Facility in Romulus, NY on an unrelated weapons charge.
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