Parents of Tyler Lewis sue UB and Buff State, disclose new details about investigation into their son’s death

Erie County DA says investigation into stabbing of Tyler Lewis is ‘nearly complete’

ASHLEY MANAGING EDITOR

The parents of Tyler Lewis, the Buffalo State sophomore who was fatally stabbed near the Ellicott Complex in October, are suing UB and Buffalo State University in connection with their son’s death.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in the New York State Court of Claims, alleges that both universities “failed to properly vet students prior to admission and admitted students known to have a violent history,” who then attacked Lewis.

“The defendant universities deliberately and/or recklessly admitted students known to be a danger or known to have a dangerous propensity, thereby exposing the claimants’ only child to a dangerous environment where he was likely to be seriously injured or killed,” the claim reads.

Roquishia Lewis, Tyler Lewis’ mother, also told The Spectrum in a phone interview in mid January that at least one of her son’s alleged assailants was a prior felon.

A spokesperson for Buffalo State declined to comment. But in response to a question about whether current or former UB students were among those who allegedly attacked Tyler Lewis, UB spokesper- son John Della Contrada told The Spectrum in an email that “the claims made in the lawsuit are not supported by the evidence gathered in the case.”

Roquishia Lewis declined to comment on the filing, but said she was “not confident” with Erie County District Attorney and UPD’s investigation into her son’s death.

“I’m not confident in anything,” she said in a phone interview with The Spectrum “I’m going to have to go ahead and start demonstrating and protesting and doing whatever I have to do in order to get the district attorney to do his job.”

She didn’t think calling officials would get her message across. Roquishia Lewis says UB stopped returning calls about a month after the incident. (Della Contrada said that UPD has had “regular contact” with the Lewis family.)

So instead, Roquishia Lewis came to North Campus late last month, handing out fliers advertising a $4,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and an anonymous tip line set up by the Lewis