2 plead guilty in shooting death of Medina woman in Lockport

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 August 2021 at 7:57 am

Cheyenne Farewell

LOCKPORT – A 17-year-old pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Niagara County Court on Thursday in the shooting death of a Medina woman on Oct. 17.

The teen admitted to firing eight shots at a garage door in Lockport, where about 100 people were having a Halloween party.

The gunfire caused the death of Cheyenne Farwell, 20, of Medina, and injured five other people including two others from Medina.

The 17-year-old shooter will spend a maximum of 20 years to life in prison. He will be sentenced on Sept. 30, according to the Lockport Union Sun & Journal.

A second defendant who is 16 pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and could be sentenced to 5 to 25 years in prison. That teen said he had the gun, but didn’t shoot it. With manslaughter, he admitted to “aiding and abetting” the crimes, the Lockport newspaper reported.

The names of the two defendants are being withheld by the media due to their age and provisions of the Raise the Age Law, which in 2017 raised the age of criminal responsibility to 18 years old. However, 16- and 17-year-olds convicted of serious crimes can be sentenced as adults.

Farewell was a Brockport State College student, where she was studying to become a therapist and writer. She was an advocate for mental health. More than 300 people mourned her death at a vigil on Oct. 18, 2020 at State Street Park in Medina.

Farewell’s mother Rochelle Horner posted on Facebook on Thursday that her daughter received justice with the two teens pleading guilty.

She said the one teen who pleaded guilty to manslaughter showed remorse, while the shooter did not.

“There will be no horrific trial where anyone has to relive that awful night,” Horner said in her post. “Cheyenne may have her justice, but her dad and I and her family and friends still don’t have HER. The kids at that party who were shot or witnessed that nightmare will never be fully okay. But today we were given a gift. Thank you to everyone who has showed us support.”