Man faces decades in prison for killing

Fatal shooting followed parking-lot fight between former friends in summer of 2022

SCHENECTADY — A city man faces a maximum of 40 years in prison at sentencing for fatally shooting his childhood friend in the parking lot outside a bar in the summer of 2022.

A Schenectady County jury late Tuesday acquitted Markeith Buchanan of the top count of second-degree murder but convicted him of first-degree manslaughter and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the shooting death of John Bass outside Vibez Bar & Lounge the night of July 1 2022.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 30.

Before she moved away from the area, Bass’ mother, Toshena ‘Shena’ Haynes, was part of a grassroots group in the streets combating gun violence and crime in Schenectady.

Footage from the bar’s surveillance cameras and those the county operates, as well as phone video, were presented as evidence during the week-long trial.

The 25-year-old Buchanan, who took the stand, claimed he feared for his life and shot Bass once in self-defense after the two fought.

After getting beat up, Buchanan retrieved a gun from a car and shot Bass, 24, once from 3 to 6 feet away in the parking lot of the State Street establishment, according to District Attorney Robert Carney. Bass was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Carney said Wednesday the physical altercation occurred after the pair, who had known each other since middle school, accused each other of being a snitch.

Attorney Kurt Haas, who represented Buchanan, did not return a call Wednesday seeking comment.

Buchanan fled, but was apprehended by federal marshals in Schenectady on Sept. 20, 2022.

Carney in a statement Wednesday said the jury “reached a just and reasonable verdict.”

“They concluded that Mr. Buchanan had no legal right to retrieve his illegal gun from his car after Mr. Bass had beaten him in a fist fight and use it to kill him,” he said, adding “but they also concluded that shooting Mr. Bass one time was indicative of an intent to cause him serious physical injury rather than an attempt to kill, even though that one shot proved fatal.”

He said the homicide was another case of “senseless gun violence” by two people who were at one time friends.

County Judge Matthew Sypniewski presided.