Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 34-year-old Clarence H. Simmons of Buffalo was sentenced on Friday morning before State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller to an indeterminate sentence of 18 years to life in prison.

The defendant admitted to causing the death of 22-year-old Arielle Johnson by stabbing her multiple times while inside her apartment on Parkedge Avenue in the Town of Tonawanda on March 19, 2020. The defendant and the victim were known to each other.  

Simmons pleaded guilty, as charged, to one count of Murder in the Second Degree (Class “A-I” felony). The defendant pleaded guilty to the only charge in the indictment against him on September 24, 2021.

DA Flynn commends Det. Lt. Thomas Moore, Det. Jeffrey Campanella and Officer Phillip McDonald of the Town of Tonawanda Police Department for their work in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Ashley M. Morgan of the Homicide Bureau.