A 21-year-old Batavia man accused of possessing a loaded firearm on school grounds turned over a short video -- under court order -- to the District Attorney on Wednesday that his attorney says will exonerate him.
The attorney, Zack Baisley, with an office in Gates, said his client authorized him to share information about the case with The Batavian after The Batavian reported his Grand Jury indictment on Thursday.
"My client is tired of seeing his name dragged through the mud for something he didn't do," Baisley said.
Delonta Rashid Sharif Curry was arrested in relation to an incident reported on Feb. 22, 2022, at 31 Washington Ave., Batavia, the location of St. Paul Lutheran School.
Baisley was assigned to the case through the county's assigned counsel program (used when a public defender isn't available) to represent Curry.
Chief Shawn Heubusch declined to comment on the case given the ongoing nature of the investigation and pending criminal prosecution, and so far, Bataiva police have released little information about the case, so this narrative of events is based on information provided by Baisley without verification by Batavia PD.
At 8:30 p.m., according to Baisley, two girls went to the school grounds to fight, and there was a group of people there observing. Two people, including his client, used their phones to video record the fight.
During the fight, somebody fired a weapon toward a group of people. A person in that group, wearing a mask, returned fire.
No injuries were reported as a result of the incident.
Batavia PD investigators arrested Curry in October, and a grand jury indicted him this month on counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, a Class C violent felony, and criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds, a Class E felony.
Baisley said his client had offered a snippet of the video he claims to have recorded during the incident, but police asked for the entire one-minute and 36-second video. Curry declined to share the entire clip. In response to a subpoena, Curry and Baisley provided the entire video to the District Attorney. Baisley believes Investigator Jason Ivison has since received the video and is reviewing it for evidence.
The video will show, Baisley said, along with a corroborating surveillance video from the school, that Curry was clearly not the person in the crowd with a gun. He said Curry's voice can be heard on the video, and another person can be seen talking with him. The surveillance, which was taken some distance from the incident, shows two people with phones making videos, and neither is the shooter.
"I believe, ultimately, the DA will wind up dropping the case against my client," Baisley said.
Also arrested in connection with the incident was Lorenzo J. Baker, 19, of Batavia. Baker is facing a Grand Jury indictment on counts of attempted first-degree assault, three counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree reckless endangerment.
He was arrested in April following a traffic stop that was followed by an Emergency Response Team raid of his residence at 36 Dellinger Ave. Officers reportedly found a loaded .32 caliber revolver in his possession.
