Second man charged in 2004 slaying
COURTS: Peter Long Jr.
Alleged To Be Accomplice
in shooting of Grand
Island teen Eric Lloyd
   Lockport . . .Niagara Gazette - Feb. 24, 2005
By Mark Lindsay
   A second person has been accused in the killing of a Grand Island teenager early last year.
   Peter Longo Jr., 19, 76 Ward Park, Grand Island, pleaded not guilty Wednesday afternoon in Niagara County court to one count each of second-degree murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree perjury and three counts of first-degree robbery.
   Longo is accused of being involved in the Jan. 27, 2004, shooting of Eric H. Lloyd at the Pelican Motel, 6817 Niagara Falls Blvd., Niagara Falls.
   Lloyd was shot twice in the back and once in the thigh during a dispute over marijuana, according to police. Lloyd died March 9 after spending more than a month in the intensive care unit at Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo.
   Nicholas P. Hernandez, 20, 325 N. Park Ave., Buffalo, pleaded guilty Oct. 15 to first-degree manslaughter in the case. That deal was offered by the district attorney's office in return for Hernandez' cooperation in the continuing investigation.
   Second Assistant District Attorney Holly Sloma wouldn't reveal Wednesday the precise role she believes Longo played in Lloyd's death.
   "The investigation revealed . . .Mr. Longo's involvement in the robbery and felony murder," Sloma said.
   She would only describe him as an accomplice in both the robbery and killing.
   Longo appeared in court Wednesday (Feb. 23, 2005) dressed in a dark suit, with his parents and his grandmother with him for support.
   It was revealed that Longo is alleged to have lied when testifying before a grand jury in Hernandez' proceeding by saying he had no prior knowledge and didn't plot the robbery of Lloyd in advance of Jan. 27, 2004.
   Long had also testified that he had no knowledge Hernandez was armed with a loaded revolver and that he didn't know a third person involved - all of which are lies, the indictment alleges.
   Sloma wouldn't comment on the third defendant because he hasn't been charged yet.
   Longo's attorney, Michael P. Stuermer, said he's conducting his own investigation into the events surrounding Lloyd's death.
   "He absolutely denies all the allegations," Stuermer said of Longo.
   Stuermer came prepared with a cashier's check in the amount of $25,000 for bail and asked Judge Peter L. Broderick to follow the district attorney's office recommendation that bail be set in the amount of $25,000 cash or $50,000 property.