BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Buffalo man has pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in connection to the death of his girlfriend in April 2021.
The Erie County District Attorney's Office announced that 22-year-old Mushagdusa R. Nankumba pleaded guilty to the charge in Erie County Court on Friday.
According to the DA, on April 17, 2021, Nankumba beat and strangled 18-year-old Larrinsha Johnson inside a vehicle parked at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park. After the attack, Nankumba contacted a family member who called 911. Police responded and found Johnson unresponsive in the front passenger seat of the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Nankumba, who was 18 years old at the time of the crime, was placed under arrest. The Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Johnson died from asphyxia due to strangulation.
The DA said Nankumba has remained in custody since his arrest and was found not competent to proceed following a forensic exam in August 2021. He was transferred to a secure psychiatric facility in Rochester. But in June 2023 he was returned to court after additional psychiatric evaluations found him competent to proceed to trial.
Nankumba faces a maximum of 25 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 31. He remains held without bail.
