BUFFALO, N.Y. — The family of a young man left for dead in the woods shared its heartbreak in court Tuesday at the sentencing of four people involved in his killing two years ago in Lake View.
Having already agreed to plea deals related to the luring and deadly ambush of Brenden Benoit of the Town of Boston, each defendant received sentences based on their involvement ranging from 25 years to time served.
Brenden's mother Arlene Borowiec told the court Tuesday that she continues to suffer from sleepless nights and that her youngest son had thought he'd been invited to a bonfire by a girl he'd been interested in.
"He went there happily to hang out with some friends so he thought, he was ambushed and slaughtered I live with the nightmare, night terrors, stress, grief sadness, and complete despair of losing my baby," said Borowiec.
"A plan born of jealousy with purely evil intent," said Edward Benoit, Brenden's father.
Hamburg Police would later find her son dead off Heltz Road on July 10, 2022, stabbed in the leg and left to bleed out. His backpack and other personal items were burned and a watch and ring were stolen to try and hide the crime according to prosecutors.
Jared M. Adamski, of Hamburg, would later admit in a plea deal that he was the one who stabbed Benoit, while Harrison J. Drozen, North Carolina, and Conner Krone, assisted in the ambush that prosecutors said was set up based on a lie.
Kayleigh A. Skybyk-Schuh, of Hamburg, Elexus Dean, and a youthful offender were the remaining defendants who would eventually all plead guilty to the charges against them in May 2024 just before the case was set to go to trial.
"The parents of this young man who is gone they're outraged by this, not only by of course his death but they're outraged for the reasons that it happened, that it started with a lie," said Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael Keane at a press conference following Tuesday's sentencing.
According to Keane, the ambush happened after Kayleigh Skybyk-Schuh falsely accused Benoit of sexually assaulting her.
Prosecutors would later provide evidence and testimony that indicated Skybyk-Schuh lied about the assault and that the Hamburg Police Department investigated the allegation, which amounted to nothing.
On Tuesday, Skybyk-Schuh's attorney still questioned the findings and said that her client went through real trauma. Judge Kenneth Case said he could not comprehend then inviting Benoit to a bonfire if that were the case and believed that the allegation was given appropriate consideration.
Skybyk-Schuh offered an apology in court Tuesday and said she never intended for anyone to die.
"I never wanted any of this to happen, no one deserves to die much less expect anyone else to forgive me," said Skybyk-Schuh.
Through tears, Jared Adamski also apologized as did Harrison Drozen.
"There is nothing that I can ever say or do that will make the situation any less harder than it is and I will the rest of my life haunted and disgusted at myself for what I've done," said Adamski.
Judge Case noted: "This goes far beyond any apology."
Ultimately, Adamski was sentenced to 25 years plus 5 years post-release supervision on one count of 1st-degree manslaughter. Drozen was given the minimum sentence of 12 years allowed under his plea deal having cooperated with prosecutors.
Krone was sentenced to time served plus probation for assault and also cooperated with the District Attorney's office. Skybyk-Schuh received 10 years for manslaughter and concurrent time for tampering with evidence.
The fifth defendant Elexus O. Dean did not appear in court when the others were sentenced. Her attorney apologized to judge cases for neglecting to inform her of the sentencing date, nothing that Dean now lives out of state.
"This really was like childish high school stuff that resulted in the life of Brenden's life which is just inconceivable to this court," Judge Case said.
Judge Case added that he was relieved and grateful that a crucial seventh person, Gabriel, who knew about the ambush but called Hamburg Police knowing it wasn't right spoke up. Acting DA Keane noted that if it wasn't for him they might have never known what happened to Benoit.
Benoit's mother Arlene said her final hope for her son...
"My hopes of Brenden's last memories were of the skyline and the trees where he was left and not the faces of the people that have harmed him," said Borowiec.