Police said the victim stepped in after seeing the suspect yelling at a female on a Rochester street.
ROCHESTER, NY — A 48-year-old man on parole for a murder conviction was charged with second-degree assault after police said he repeatedly stabbed a man in his 60s who intervened in a confrontation on Genesee Street late Monday.
Rochester police identified the suspect as Cordell Lanier. Officers responded to the 200 block of Genesee Street at about 11:30 p.m. and found the victim suffering from multiple stab wounds. Police said he was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Lanier was arrested nearby after police said he fled the confrontation on a bicycle.
According to police, the victim reported seeing Lanier yelling at an unidentified female on Genesee Street. The man told Lanier to leave her alone, which police said led to an argument and then a physical fight. Investigators said Lanier produced a knife during the confrontation and stabbed the man multiple times before leaving the area. Authorities have not publicly identified the victim or the female involved.
Responding officers located Lanier farther south on Genesee Street, police said. Authorities said he attempted to flee before officers took him into custody near Stratford Park. He was transported to the Monroe County Jail and charged with second-degree assault. The charge is an allegation, and Lanier is presumed innocent unless proved guilty in court.
Rochester Police Capt. Greg Bello said the victim was fortunate that his wounds were not fatal, noting Lanier’s previous murder conviction. Bello also credited first responders with treating the injured man and officers with quickly locating the suspect after the stabbing.
Police and state records cited by local news organizations show Lanier was on parole for second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon when he was arrested. An appellate court decision from 2000 affirmed his second-degree murder conviction. The court said evidence at his earlier trial showed that Lanier pulled a gun during an altercation with an unarmed man and that several shots were fired during a struggle, two of which struck the victim.
WHAM reported, citing the New York State Department of Corrections, that Lanier had been released from prison on parole in 2020. The station reported that the murder conviction stemmed from a deadly shooting on Magnolia Street in Rochester in the 1990s. Accounts differ on whether the underlying killing occurred in 1996 or was recorded as a 1997 murder, and available reports reviewed for this story do not resolve that discrepancy.
The stabbing victim’s decision to intervene drew attention from police because investigators said he was trying to help someone he believed was in a confrontation. Bello said police generally encourage witnesses to call 911 and allow officers to handle potentially dangerous situations. In this case, he said, the victim appeared to have been trying to do the right thing before he was injured.
Lanier was initially held at the Monroe County Jail. WHAM reported that jail records listed bail at $25,000 or a $75,000 bond following the assault charge. Police have not publicly released additional information about the unidentified female or described what led to the confrontation before the victim intervened.
The victim was expected to survive, according to police. Lanier’s new criminal case remains pending, and the available reports did not establish a final disposition of the assault charge.
Author note: Last updated October 3, 2026.