Falls convenience store owner's murder trial set

Mar. 6—As New York's criminal courts begin to re-open for in-person hearings and trials, Niagara County prosecutors say they've been given a trial date for two suspects charged in the more than two year old slaying of a popular Falls convenience store owner.

Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III has told prosecutors to be prepared to begin on May 10 with the murder trials of William McEnnis and William Coleman,

McEnnis, 36, of Keystone Avenue in Buffalo, and Coleman, 31, of Niagara Falls, are accused of the Nov. 21, 2018 slaying of Niagara Falls convenience store owner Ahmad "Poppy" Alsaid.

The two men, who were on parole after serving 10 years in prison on charges related to a violent robbery in Buffalo, are each facing two counts of second-degree murder, three counts of first-degree robbery and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in the robbery of Alsaid's Bridgeway Market in the 1100 block of Niagara Street.

They have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Coleman and McEnnis are also accused of holding up a 7-Eleven on Buffalo Avenue in the Falls, at gunpoint, that same night.

And the two paroles have also been charged in connection with the robbery of a Falls man on Ninth Street 11 days before the Bridgeway Market homicide. In that case, prosecutors say, McEnnis and Coleman stole the man's wallet and then shot him in the hip.

Police and prosecutors have released few details of the robbery-homicide. They charge that McEnnis and Coleman enter Alsaid's store and emptied the register, before shooting the popular neighborhood merchant. Alsaid was rushed to the Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo, where he died from his wounds.