(WNY News Now) – BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Buffalo man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 2021 killing of his girlfriend, Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announced.
Mushagdusa R. Nankumba, 22, received a determinate sentence of 20 years followed by five years of post-release supervision. Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan handed down the sentence on Monday.
The crime occurred in the early hours of April 17, 2021, inside a vehicle parked at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park near West Parade Avenue. Nankumba fatally beat and strangled his girlfriend, 18-year-old Larrinsha Johnson. After the attack, he contacted a family member, who called 911. Buffalo Police officers arrived to find Johnson unresponsive in the front passenger seat. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities arrested Nankumba, then 18, at the scene. A forensic examination determined that Johnson died from asphyxia due to strangulation. Following his arrest, Nankumba was deemed incompetent to stand trial and was transferred to a secure psychiatric facility in Rochester. After further evaluations in June 2023, he was ruled competent and returned to court.
Nankumba pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, a Class B violent felony, on February 14, 2025, in full satisfaction of the indictment.
DA Keane commended the Buffalo Police Department, including Detective Sergeant Amy Jo Frankel, Detective Mark Costantino, retired Detective Jason Mayhook, Officer Alexander Brennan, and Officer Scott Aldinger, for their investigative work.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Justin H. Caldwell of the Homicide Bureau.
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