An Erie County jury has acquitted a Town of Tonawanda man of manslaughter in the April 2022 killing of a 19-year-old that followed a fight in an industrial section of the town.
Jurors deliberated for 3½ hours before deciding Michael A. Atkinson, 23, wasn’t at fault in the death of Harith M. Alkhalaf.
“The jury saw that he acted in a lawful manner in defending his own life,” Matthew Albert, Atkinson’s attorney, said afterward.
Atkinson was found guilty of criminal possession of a weapon, a felony charge, and faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 6 by Erie County Judge Suzanne Maxwell Barnes.
The Erie County District Attorney’s Office declined comment on the verdicts, which were issued issued Tuesday morning following a four-day trial in Erie County Court.
On the morning of April 20, Mike Hamzah learned the terrible news that his only son had died…
Alkhalaf died April 20, 2022, after he was shot and stabbed by Atkinson following a fight on James Avenue, near River Road, in the Town of Tonawanda.
Atkinson’s attorney had argued his client had been forced to defend himself after Alkhalaf arrived outside Atkinson’s home with the intention of killing him.
Alkhalaf was enraged that Atkinson was with Alkhalaf’s ex-girlfriend that evening,…
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