BUFFALO, N.Y. — After a nine-month-long investigation, the Erie County District Attorney has charged two people in connection with the murder of 29-year-old Marcus Spain.
District Attorney John Flynn announced Tuesday that 31-year-old Cortez Foster and 22-year-old Naudia Marvin, both of Buffalo were arraigned Monday for second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
On March 14, 2021, it's alleged that Foster and Marvin lured Marcus to the 200 block of Johnson Street in the City of Buffalo.
Working together, the two, shot him with an illegal firearm while he was sitting in his vehicle on Johnson Street.
Marcus was taken to ECMC where he later died.
2 On Your Side sat down with Marcus’s father, Dwayne Spain who describes his son as a loving father with two kids, an aspiring businessman, and a fun-loving young man.
“He loved his two kids; he has a son and a daughter. He loved them to death. He loved his whole family,” said Spain.
Spain said Marcus was a graduate of Kenmore West High School where he played basketball and football, his two favorite sports.
On the night of March 13, Spain said Marcus did not come home after going to a friend’s birthday party earlier that night. The next morning around 6 a.m., a Buffalo Police officer woke him up to tell him that Marcus was shot and killed earlier that morning.
“As you can imagine at the time I was just stricken with grief and just couldn’t understand. It was like a dream to be honest just to have someone standing there saying that was just like a nightmare,” said Spain.
However, Marcus’s family took their grief and used it to fuel efforts to seek justice in this case.
In August, they took part in a first-of-its-kind Crime Stoppers initiative using billboards to help solve unsolved homicides. A photo of Marcus was featured on a billboard.
Back in August, Marcus’s mother Robyn Gerow spoke during a press conference about the initiative.
“I pray that somebody will, come forward with new information about my son’s case so that my family can get closure and so that we can protect his children,” said Gerow.
Spain said Monday’s arraignment brought his family that much-needed closure.
The family also learned that the night Marcus was killed he was on a date with 22-year-old Naudia Marvin, now charged with his murder.
"He went to a good friend of his birthday party, with her. He was just out having a good time. Never thought in a million years, the lady he was with was going to kill him by the end of the night,” said Spain.
Foster and Marvin were remanded without bail. A return court date has not been scheduled at this time.
If convicted of all charges, both defendants face a maximum of 25 years to life in prison.