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Laquan Fallen, age 24, of Albany, was sentenced to between five and 15 years in prison in Albany County Supreme Court on Friday, Dec. 1.
It followed his guilty plea to manslaughter for shooting and killing 24-year-old Czsar Lewis in Albany.
According to prosecutors, the two were near Central Avenue and Robin Street on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022, when Fallen shot Lewis with a handgun. He was legally prohibited from having the weapon at the time.
Prosecutors initially filed a murder charge against Fallen, who claimed the shooting was done in self-defense.
In August 2023, he pleaded guilty to reduced charges of manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon.
Among those to speak at Friday’s sentencing were Lewis’ mother, Connie Wiggins.
“As we get older in life, we expect our children to bury us, not burying them,” the DA’s office quoted her as saying. “The hardest thing I have ever gone through in my life is burying my baby boy.”
The killing triggered an outpouring of tributes for Lewis, an Albany High School graduate who worked as a mail carrier for the US Postal Service, according to his obituary.
A lover of the outdoors, he also enjoyed volunteering with Young Voters Registration and neighborhood church gardening, his memorial said.
Keke Wilson, Lewis’ former supervisor at Dunkin’ Donuts, described him as a “great soul.”
“You could always count on him to come in to work when short staffed or staying late to help out at work,” Wilson wrote on his memorial page. “He worked hard, was a great employee, and he was very reliable.”
Loretta Brown called Lewis a “bright light in this world that will be greatly missed.”
“You were the sweetest and kindest person I’ve ever crossed paths with,” Brown wrote. “Thank you for always being positive, loving and funny.”
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