LOCKPORT — A Falls man, accused in the stabbing death of a woman in a Niagara Falls Boulevard motel room on Feb. 23, 2023, has pleaded guilty to the crime in a deal with prosecutors.
Brian Wallace, 37, pleaded guilty Friday to a single count of second-degree murder. He had been indicted by a Niagara County grand jury on single counts of intentional second-degree murder, felony second-degree murder, two counts of predatory sexual assault and one count of sexual misconduct in the death of Lauren Hayes, 38, of the Falls.
As part of his plea, Niagara County Court Judge John Ottaviano agreed to sentence Wallace to a term of 20 years to life in prison. Wallace will remain jailed until his sentencing hearing in September.
“This was a horrible crime for which the defendant deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail,” Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman said after the plea hearing. “We hope that this guilty plea will bring closure to Ms. Hayes’ family.”
Falls Police patrol officers said that just after 2 a.m. on Feb. 21, 2023, they were called to a motel in the 9800 block of Niagara Falls Boulevard for a report of a woman stabbed. When they arrived, the officers found Hayes’ body in one of the motel rooms.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives with the Falls Police Criminal Investigation Division said the patrol officers also encountered Wallace, who they said had “been in the same room as the (Hayes).” Investigators also said Wallace and Hayes were “acquainted with one another.”
After questioning Wallace, and reviewing evidence recovered from the crime scene, detectives said they took Wallace into custody and charged him with Hayes’s murder.
Investigators initially said that they believed that “some sort of disagreement” led to the stabbing.