An argument over lack of a face mask that led to a shoving match in a bar near Buffalo, New York, on September 26, 2020, resulted in the death of an 80-year old man and homicide charges against the 65-year-old man who knocked him down
According to witnesses, Donald Lewinski, 65, refused to wear a mask and was rude to bar staff. When Rocco Sapienza, 80, said something to him, Lewinski shoved Sapienza, who fell and suffered a head injury, and went into seizures. Sapienza died three days later.
Lewinski is now charged with criminally negligent homicide and could get up to 4 years in prison. I’m curious why the D.A. didn’t charge him with manslaughter. Some states impose stiffer penalties for assaulting an elderly person; in New York, similar legislation is proposed (here), but not enacted.
The assault wasn’t as simple as a face mask argument, though. Both men were regulars at the bar, disliked each other, and had a history of mutual animosity.
Read story here.