Jury Finds Juan Ubiles Found Guilty of 2023 Niagara Falls Murder in Less than 60 Minutes

Stock photo

A Niagara Falls man was quickly convicted of murder on Tuesday following a brief jury deliberation that capped a high-profile homicide trial stemming from a deadly shooting last summer.

A jury composed of eight women and four men took just 55 minutes to find 39-year-old Juan Ubiles guilty of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the June 19th, 2023, killing of Gregory Vincent.

Vincent, 44, was shot multiple times while fleeing down 18th Street in Niagara Falls. Surveillance cameras from a nearby store captured audio and video of the incident, which was shown to the jury last week.

Vincent was found by responding officers with multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center.

Ubiles now faces a potential sentence of 40 years to life in prison.

During the trial’s final day, Ubiles took the stand in his own defense. He claimed the fatal encounter was the result of long-standing tension and violent confrontations between him and Vincent dating back over a decade.

He said Vincent, who had a child with Ubiles’ wife, had been a persistent threat and described an earlier incident in 2010 in which he fired shots at Vincent’s home — an episode he characterized as a moment of blind rage.

“I had a blackout and took the law into my own hands,” Ubiles told the court.

Ubiles recounted feeling fearful whenever he crossed paths with Vincent. He testified that on the day of the shooting, he approached Vincent near a corner store at 18th Street and Niagara Avenue to talk, but panicked when Vincent exited his car. He said he “blacked out” again and couldn’t remember much about what happened next.

However, under cross-examination by First Assistant Niagara County District Attorney Doreen Hoffmann, Ubiles admitted to making threatening statements. Surveillance footage corroborated Hoffmann’s account of Ubiles confronting Vincent aggressively. At one point, Ubiles can be heard saying, “I don’t put [people] in jail, I put them in the dirt.”

The prosecution argued that the shooting was deliberate, showing video of Ubiles pulling a gun and chasing Vincent through the neighborhood before firing multiple shots. Hoffmann emphasized that Ubiles showed no signs of fear but instead instigated the confrontation and pursued Vincent after the initial gunfire.

“This wasn’t self-defense. This was calculated aggression,” Hoffmann said in her closing argument.

Sentencing for Ubiles is expected in the coming weeks.

Jury Finds Juan Ubiles Found Guilty of 2023 Niagara Falls Murder in Less than 60 Minutes