Man arraigned in Rochester’s 80th homicide

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC)— A Rochester man accused of killing another man near a playground Sunday night pleaded not guilty to multiple charges Wednesday morning.

21-year-old Derrick Gunter made the plea during his arraignment in Rochester City Court. Gunter currently lives in Florida but is from Rochester.

Police say he shot and killed 25-year-old Waltequaries Evans near the playground of School #17 on Orchard Street. Evans became the 80th homicide victim of 2021.

Before the shooting, we told you Evans was just 15 years old when he was one of a few people who escaped the deadly arson at a home on Grape Street on Feb.18, 2012. The fire killed four children and left Evans with serious burns.

Initially, police said the shooting happened over an argument, but Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Christopher Bokelman said it did not exactly play out that way.

"From what the police have been able to determine at this point, there was a – I wouldn’t call it an argument – some people who were on one side of the defendant and victim were trying to resolve a dispute, and family members and friends showed up, and it did go wrong," Bokelman said. "It went tragically wrong very quickly and this poor young man lost his life."

Gunter is being held at the Monroe County Jail without bail.