PEMBROKE, N.Y. — It has been a few days now since attorney Steve Barnes and his niece Elizabeth Barnes were killed in a plane crash in the Town of Pembroke, near Corfu.
The shocking news has left a painful void for Western New Yorkers and those in the legal community.
There are a lot of unknowns as to what led to the crash in Genesee County, where the sheriff told reporters that, from experience, he thinks the investigation will likely take a considerable amount of time.
Since news broke Friday afternoon, many people responded to the tragedy.
Bishop Timon-St. Jude High School on Saturday morning addressed the loss in a Facebook post.
"The Bishop Timon-St. Jude High School community mourns the tragic passing of our fellow alumnus Stephen Barnes ‘76 and his niece Elizabeth Barnes, the daughter of Richard Barnes ‘73.
Steve was a member of the Varsity Crew and Swim team along with being on our Student Senate during his time at Timon. After graduation Steve became the principle partner of Cellino and Barnes P.C. along with being a former member of our Board of Trustees and was inducted into our John Timon Society in 2010.
We are grateful for his many years of support and he will be dearly missed by his Timon family."
2 On Your Side also received statements from The Barnes Firm and Ross Cellino, Steve's longtime partner.
Cellino said, in part, "He was always a fearless advocate for his clients. His passing is a significant loss for the legal community."
Those sentiments were echoed Saturday by Western New York attorney Steve Boyd, who knew Barnes for more than 20 years.
"The thought that the entire Barnes family has been thrown this devastation, it's horrific," Boyd said. "I think the best we can do is find a way to remember them and find a way to acknowledge the leader that Steve was, the innovator that Steve was."
Boyd shared this memory with 2 on Your Side:
Elizabeth was also making her mark as a lawyer.
"Everything was waiting for her. She just needed to decide what it was that she wanted to do and whatever it was that she had decided she wanted to do, she would've excelled," said Alberto Benítez, a professor of clinical law.
He said he taught Elizabeth and got to know her well while she was a student at George Washington University Law School.
Like Attorney Richard Barnes, Elizabeth's father, and her uncle Steve Barnes, Benítez also attended Timon High School in South Buffalo. However, he said that's not all that brought them together.
Benítez explained, "Elizabeth and I tended to look at the law in the same way, which is helping people, doing public good, public service. She certainly had the capability and the intelligence to do anything in the law that she wanted to do, but she had decided that helping people was what she wanted to do with her legal education."
While Elizabeth graduated several years ago, Benítez told 2 On Your Side that they kept in contact and spoke at recently as last Sunday, over text message, celebrating the Buffalo Bills win.