Police in
Cheektowaga on Monday released audio recordings of controversial phone calls between three Cheektowaga Central High School teachers and a student who was in trouble with the law. At the time, Dontre Jones was in the Erie County Holding Center, awaiting trial in the shooting death of Ira Watkins Jr. in Cheektowaga Town Park in May of 2011.
The phone calls took place at some point between then and this past June, when Jones was found guilty of manslaughter in a non-jury trial.
During one of the calls, a teacher tells Jones that another student had snitched on him.
"I hear [name beeped] snitched on you," the teacher says.
"Word?," Jones replies.
"That's what the kids said here," the teacher says.
The names of the teachers have not been released. They have been placed on paid administrative leave pending a district investigation, but do not face any criminal charges.
Jones, who is now 19 years old, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in August.