Juan Cruz-Corraliza

MAYVILLE – A Dunkirk man who went to trial and got a hung jury after being accused of unintentionally shooting two youths in a 2022 drive-by incident in Dunkirk has accepted a plea agreement instead of having another trial.

The new trial, which was on the court calendar for next week, was going to include new charges involving a threat with a gun made in 2024.

According to District Attorney Jason Schmidt, on Wednesday, 43-year-old Juan Cruz-Corraliza entered a guilty plea of first-degree assault for the 2022 incident and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon for the 2024 incident.

The guilty pleas come with a sentence promise of 5 years of incarceration on the 2022 incident to run concurrent with 3-7 years on the gun possession charge.

2022 DUNKIRK SHOOTING INVOLVING CHILDREN

On July 17, 2022, it was reported that two youths, ages 8 and 12, were the victims of an apparent drive-by shooting on Route 60 around 8:30 p.m.

Witnesses had told police that a southbound vehicle on Route 60 was passed by another vehicle, at which point shots were fired. Afterward, occupants inside the vehicle struck by the gunfire sought safety and medical assistance at the Route 60 Red Apple Kwik Fill in Fredonia.

Both juveniles were transported to Brooks-TLC Hospital System in Dunkirk. At that time, it was reported that the 8-year-old female suffered life-threatening injuries.

Cruz-Corraliza was taken into custody by the US Marshals Office Fugitive from Justice Unit on Nov. 22, 2022.

Police said after being tracked to locations inside and outside of New York state, Cruz-Corraliza was finally found to be hiding in a trailer in the town of Hanover where he refused to come out. Cruz-Corraliza was taken into custody on the warrant by the US Marshals with assistance of their K-9 unit.

On Wednesday Schmidt had agreed to do a phone interview with The Post-Journal/OBSERVER hours before Cruz-Corraliza entered his guilty plea to discuss the upcoming trial.

Schmidt said the suspect first went to trial in either late 2023 or early 2024 and that ended in a hung jury.

“We’re alleging that the children that were shot weren’t necessarily the targets. There was an effort to shoot the adults in the car and this (shooting children) was an accidental result of that,” he said.

GUN THREAT ARREST IN FREDONIA

Cruz-Corraliza had been out on bail before the first trial took place. With the hung jury, he remained out on bail.

Then on Oct. 22, 2024, Cruz-Corraliza allegedly flashed a gun after an argument at the Fredonia Wal-Mart.

He, as well as Viviana Dejesus Ramos, were taken into custody after being stopped in a vehicle on Bennett Road.

NEW TRIAL PREPARATION

Cruz-Corraliza was scheduled to go to trial this month for both incidents. Jury selection was to begin Tuesday.

Schmidt said his office decided it was best to consolidate the two incidents into one indictment. “As we had argued with the court, there’s certain similarities between the two cases of the alleged conduct of the defendant. We believe that the similarities and the conduct can be used for identification purposes by the jurors,” he said.

Schmidt said both incidents involved a female and a “perceived slight” that the defendant felt.

There were other similarities as well. “Both incidents involved a vehicle chase. Both involved handling a gun and in some manner threatening the victims,” Schmidt said.

Coincidentally, both incidents took place on Route 60, between the roundabout and the I-90 exit. The 2022 incident technically took place in Dunkirk while the 2024 incident was in Fredonia.

Schmidt said the challenge of the 2022 case was that there was only one witness who could identify Cruz-Corraliza. “The case hinged upon the jurors accepting her (witness’) identification. The shooting occurred just after 8 o’clock at night. It was getting dark out. The vehicles they were driving had tinted windows. … There’s no question that there was a shooting event that occurred and two children were shot. The issue was who was the shooter,” he said.

In the phone interview, Schmidt said he felt that the additional charges from the 2024 incident would create a stronger case for the prosecution and help the jury identify who the shooter is.

Shortly after that phone call ended, Schmidt texted back announcing Cruz-Corraliza’s guilty plea, but added that he wasn’t immediately available for further comment due to preparation for a separate grand jury presentation.