Man will spend 20 years in prison for killing Rochester teenager Jakarah Lopez-Moore

ROCHESTER, NY – The man who killed 16-year-old Jakarah Lopez-Moore last August will spend 20 years behind bars.

Reign Tapiato, 28, was sentenced by New York Supreme Court Justice Moran more than a year after the killing after pleading guilty in September.

Lopez-Moore was reported missing on August 27, 2023. On October 14, people fishing found her body in the woods near the Erie Canal behind Vanguard Parkway.

Police believed she was killed the night she disappeared. Tapiatio was identified as a suspect in the murder in February of this year. Police say they knew each other and it wasn't a random act of violence.

“Jakarah Lopez-Moore had her whole life ahead of her before Reign Tapiato violently took that life away from her friends and family,” said Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley. “Reign Tapiato killed teenager Jakarah Lopez-Moore and left her family desperately searching for her for months, suffering and wondering if she was still alive. We hope Reign Tapiato will use his time in law enforcement to reflect on his violent actions that took a life and ruined a family. We hope Jakarah Lopez-Moore’s family can find justice in today’s verdict.”

On Monday, the Monroe County District Attorney's Office said Tapiato shot Lopez-Moore in a wooded area in Rochester the night she went missing.

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