A retrial is set for October of this year for the man who allegedly killed a suspected burglar in 2017.
Jeff Salone Jr.’s trial will begin October 4, 2021 and Ontario County First Assistant District Attorney Jason MacBride will be prosecuting.
The manslaughter charge Salone is facing stems from an incident in September of 2017 when police found Jawuan Brumfield, 23, inside Salone’s second story apartment unresponsive. Brumfield died the following day.
Police believe Salone pulled Brumfield into his apartment through the window when Brumfield was trying to commit a burglary.
After being convicted of manslaughter and acquitted of murder, Salone was facing 25 years in prison when an appeals court overturned the sentence in 2019.
MacBride’s belief is that Salone and some friends were waiting for Brumfield to show up because he had burglarized the apartment previously, then beat him for twenty minutes before police showed up.
Nobody else was arrested, and Salone claims he was asleep and woken by a loud noise, finding a man coming through the kitchen window with a taser and grabbing a knife before a fight ensued.
Salone says in the fight the intruder hit his head and tried to get back up but he hit him again before he began to breath funny when unconscious.
The appeal happened due to Judge Brian Dennis allowing some trial testimony from Geneva police Detective Steve Vine. Vine said he was skeptical of Salone’s claim where he was alone and defending himself.
The appeals court also said Judge Dennis should not have allowed Brumfield’s mother to testify on her son’s background.
Salone was serving his sentence in Attica until his conviction was overturned and is currently on community supervision.
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