LEWISTON, N.Y. — After a postponement last month and the mysterious death of Tricia Vacanti, there are new developments in the case against her, her husband, and her neighbor, who were accused of providing alcohol and marijuana to three teenage girls who claimed they were sexually assaulted by Vacanti’s son in their home.
On July 3, the case took a turn when Vacanti unexpectedly died, and the Niagara County District Attorney's office was not initially notified of the death.
As of Tuesday, the mysterious death of Vacanti has been confirmed, as the district attorney informed the Lewiston Town Court that it received Vacanti's death certificate, though no cause of death was revealed, which results in the abatement of criminal charges.
“This case has been allowed to stall for far too long,” said the victim’s attorney Steven Cohen. “Tricia Vacanti is now dead. She was never required to appear for any deposition. She's not going to be available, obviously to appear at trial."
Vacanti was charged with 41 counts of unlawfully dealing with a minor and endangering the welfare of a child at a 2018 party at her home along with her husband Gary Sullo and neighbor Jessica Long.
Vacanti is also a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by the parents of one of the teenage girls that alleged she “groomed” her before she was raped by Vicanti's son, Christopher Belter.
“Unfortunately, Tricia Vacanti, who played such a large role in what happened to my client, she will never have to answer for what she did," said Cohen. “The victim has been forgotten. In this case, Judge Matthew Murphy, who has always been an exceptional judge, failed my client. The criminal justice system failed my client.”
With the trial for Vacanti's husband Gary Sullo and neighbor Jessica Long still underway, the victim's lawyer hopes it will finally provide her with some closure.
“There's no prize at the end of this case,” Cohen said. “This is about a young woman. She was a child at the time, who was raped, and if this process can result in closure for her to some extent to some degree, that would be a success."
The court will reconvene on Sept. 20 to officially set a trial date for the criminal cases of Sullo and Long.