A summer 2012 heroin feud in Buffalo turned deadly. Tensions escalated after a group including Jose L. Ramirez-Merced and Alexander Duarte began selling heroin on the city’s West Side and, on July 15, 2012, carried out a home invasion intended for Jose Rivera. The invaders targeted the wrong house and stole cocaine and cash belonging to others, which provoked threats and further violence.

Rivera allegedly responded with threats and an attempt on one group member’s life. On the evening of July 31, 2012, Ramirez-Merced and Duarte went to a West Avenue residence, opened fire, killed Jose Rivera and wounded a woman who was present. Ramirez-Merced, then 30, later pleaded guilty to discharge of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking causing death; charges were pending against Duarte at that time.

Does anyone have information about Rivera’s life on the West Side or about the events of July 31, 2012?