On February 14, 2026, 35-year-old Alexis Skoczylas was found dead inside her Buffalo Street home in Sanborn, New York after Lewiston Police responded to a welfare check at about 5:14 p.m. Investigators say she died of a single gunshot to the head and that her two children were in the house at the time.

The investigation quickly focused on a person close to her. Less than 12 hours after the discovery, police arrested 53-year-old Lance Woods, identified as Alexis’s husband and an off-duty Buffalo Police officer who had been with the department since 2008 and worked as a school resource officer. Court records show Alexis had filed for divorce the previous September but the couple and their children were still living together. Officials say Woods used his personal firearm, not his service weapon.

Amherst Police took Woods into custody during an early morning traffic stop; he was charged with second-degree murder and remanded to the Niagara County Jail. The New York State Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation is handling the case because a law enforcement officer is involved. Does anyone have information about Alexis, the family, or what happened that evening?