By August 10, 1991, Valentino Dixon (above) had already been convicted of two drug-related shootings. On the evening Torriano Jackson was killed, The Buffalo News reports Dixon was awaiting sentencing for those shootings and had been released on bail. However, he vehemently denied killing Jackson. Two days after Jackson was shot and killed, 18-year-old Lamarr Scott returned to the scene, where he spoke with a news crew covering the murder. During the interview, Scott told the WGRZ-TV television crew that he was the one who shot and killed Jackson.
When authorities questioned Scott about his statement to the television crew, he claimed he killed Jackson in self-defense. During the interview, he said Jackson and his friends “jumped out of a yellow Dodge Shadow and opened fire.” As reported by Buffalo News, Scott said Jackson fired the first shot. However, he confessed to shooting and killing the man before fleeing the scene.
Although Scott confessed to Jackson’s murder, authorities were convinced Dixon was guilty. Prosecutor Christopher J. Belling said Scott later recanted his confession and claimed Dixon’s family persuaded him to confess to spare his friend from spending the rest of his life in prison. As Scott was only 18, he would have been tried as a youthful offender, and would have faced a much shorter sentence. When the case was presented to the grand jury, Buffalo News reports three witnesses testified that Dixon was the shooter, and two others testified that it was Scott.
