LOCKPORT — Two men have been charged in a murder-for-hire plot that took the life of a Falls man during a “violence remembrance” gathering on Ninth Street in August 2024.
A Niagara County grand jury has issued a superseding indictment charging Marvin E. Porter, 37, and Rojae J. Mitchell, 23, with first-degree murder/contract killing, second-degree murder and second-degree conspiracy. Mitchell is also charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
While Mitchell is accused of pulling the trigger to gun down Anthony Brantley during the Ninth Street vigil, Niagara County prosecutors say Porter paid him to do it.
The superseding indictments were unsealed Wednesday afternoon before Niagara County Court Judge Caroline Wojtaszek. Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman described the straightforward language of the indictment.
“The (first-degree) murder charge is that Mr. Mitchell was hired to commit this crime by Mr. Porter,” Seaman said. “The two are charged with conspiring together to commit the murder of Anthony Brantley and then carrying out the plan in Niagara Falls on August 24, 2024, for payment from Porter to Mitchell.”
The maximum penalty for first-degree murder is a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Mitchell had previously been indicted on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with Brantley’s slaying. Those charges are now replaced by the superseding indictment.
His arraignment on Wednesday afternoon was delayed after his defense attorney, Daniel Dubois, told Wojtaszek, “I believe I have a conflict that would not allow me to proceed to represent Mr. Mitchell.”
Dubois did not explain the potential conflict, but said it had been discussed “in chambers” with the judge and prosecutors. Wojtaszek allowed him to withdraw from the case.
First Assistant District Attorney Doreen Hoffmann, who is the lead prosecutor on the case, said in court that she had requested a protective order to keep a civilian witness list and a copy of a statement made by Porter to law enforcement officials, sealed from defense counsel.
Mitchell, a Jamaican national who prosecutors say is in the United States illegally and has no permanent address, is now scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 9. He remains held without bail pending the court proceedings.
Porter, who lives near Erie, Pa, with his wife and children, was arraigned on his charges following Mitchell’s court appearance. He pleaded not guilty to the indictment and was also ordered held without bail after Hoffmann told the judge that Porter “does not live in Niagara Falls” and “has three prior felony convictions” while facing “a possible sentence of life without parole.”
Mitchell is accused of murdering Brantley, aka “Carlito Vasquez”, 43, who was reportedly both shot and stabbed in the 400 block of Ninth Street on Aug. 24, 2024, during a yearly “violence remembrance” gathering that honors people from the Ninth Street neighborhood who have passed away over the years.
Falls Police patrol officers said they were first called to the area at about 8:50 p.m. for reports of “a stabbing and a shooting.” Officers said when they arrived, they found a vehicle with the driver’s-side front window shot out, which had crashed into a parked car.
The officers also said they discovered Brantley’s body lying on the front lawn of a nearby home. Police said a large crowd had gathered near 449 Ninth St. before they arrived and that Brantley was unresponsive and had suffered what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds to his chest.
Brantley was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel. Detectives said later that Brantley also appeared to have suffered stab wounds.
Witnesses, at the time, described the suspected killer as a male, dressed in all black, with a hoodie pulled over his head. The suspect was last seen running south in the 400 block of Ninth Street.
Four months later, Mitchell was apprehended in Alabama by a U.S. Marshals Task Force. Neither police nor prosecutors have said how Mitchell happened to be in Alabama four months after Brantley’s murder.
Porter was apprehended on an indictment arrest warrant over the weekend in Niagara Falls.
Hoffmann previously told Wojtaszek that Mitchell entered the United States “illegally in 2023” and was processed by immigration officials in California. Hoffmann said he was released and scheduled for a deportation hearing in New York City, but never appeared at the proceeding.
The assistant DA said Mitchell gave immigration authorities a fake home address, and when he was apprehended, he had a New York state driver’s license that showed his address as a New York City homeless shelter.
“I have been told (by ICE agents) that if (Mitchell) was given any type of bail, he would be deported immediately,” Hoffmann said when he was first charged.