An Aliquippa man who admitted to fatally punching another man outside a Beaver County bar was sentenced to two to five years in prison and ordered to pay $3,000 toward the victim’s funeral, prosecutors said.
“We hope this guilty plea offers a measure of justice to the victim’s loved ones who will forever be impacted by this incident,” said a statement from Attorney General Dave Sunday.
Kijana Lowe, 28, pleaded guilty Wednesday to involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced after agreeing to the plea. His attorney, Pittsburgh-based Bill Diefenderfer, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Ayo Genes, 38, died in September 2021 from a blood clot two weeks after he was punched by Lowe outside the Paris Grill on Kennedy Boulevard in Aliquippa.
City police declined comment, and a spokesman from Sunday’s office said the state prosecuted the case as a result of an investigation into crimes in Beaver County.
Lowe’s hardscrabble upbringing has been used in his defense in a separate federal drug case. His mother was a crack addict, his father did jail time and he spent time in the foster care system, according to court filings.
In March, Lowe was sentenced to 10 years behind bars for trafficking 10 kilograms of cocaine. One kilogram of cocaine has a street value of about $30,000, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Federal prosecutors list Lowe with a Moon address, while Pennsylvania authorities use Aliquippa. The communities are adjacent to each other and Hopewell on the border of Allegheny and Beaver counties.
The sentences will run concurrently, state prosecutors said.
Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)