DA moves to dismiss indictment against Buffalo woman convicted in 1995 homicide

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- The Erie County District Attorney's Office has filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against a Buffalo woman who was convicted of murder over 20 years ago.

Renay Lynch, 67, was sentenced to serve 25 years to life in prison in the 1995 murder of her landlord, 82-year-old Louise Cicelsky. In 1998, Lynch was found guilty of murder in the second degree and robbery in the first degree.

In May of 1995, Cicelsky was found dead inside her Eggertsville apartment. Authorities said she had been beaten and stabbed multiple times. During an investigation, Lynch confessed to Amherst police that she went to Ciclesky's residence with another person with the intent to commit robbery. Lynch, according to authorities, confessed that the other individual committed the murder of Cicelsky during the robbery.

Lynch was arrested and charged for the crime. The other individual, according to authorities, was not corroborated and never charged for his alleged involvement. The individual is currently serving a life sentence in Florida for an unrelated crime, according to authorities.

In 2018, Lynch's attorney filed a motion requesting additional DNA testing of evidence from the crime scene be conducted. Authorities said the DA's office opposed the request on the basis that according to Lynch's confession, she was not in the area of Cicelsky's residence where the homicide occurred and therefore, it was "unlikely that her DNA would be found on that evidence."

A State Supreme Court granted the motion and additional testing found no DNA evidence linked Lynch or the other individual she claimed committed the crime, authorities said.

Lynch was released from prison in January 2022.

In 2020, the DA's office's Conviction Integrity Unit began a collaborative re-investigation into Lynch's case with her attorneys. In November 2023, Lynch's attorneys filed a motion to vacate her conviction on the basis she "did not receive a fair trial" due to police failing to provide the DA's office and the defense with fingerprint evidence that was collected from the scene, authorities said.

The DA's office did not oppose Lynch's attorney's motion and on Dec. 11, 2023, a justice issued a decision and order vacating Lynch's conviction.

According to authorities, the DA's office filed a motion to dismiss the indictment in January 2024 due to insufficient evidence to proceed with a second trial. The order to dismiss was signed Thursday.