Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 31-year-old Shanita Chapman of Buffalo has been sentenced by State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia to 3 ½ years in prison.   

Chapman is one of the three co-defendants charged in the robbery and beating death of 79-year-old Upender Bawa who was killed in his apartment above the Taste of Life restaurant on Sycamore Street in the City of Buffalo on July 17, 2016.

The defendant pleaded guilty to Attempted Robbery in the First Degree in May 2017.

On April 18, 2018, the second co-defendant in the case, 27-year-old Jamell Chapman of Niagara Falls, was sentenced to 24 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. The defendant pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree for his role in the crime in March 2018.

The third co-defendant, 19-year-old Dalene McIlwain of Buffalo, is scheduled to be sentenced on September 26 at 9:30 a.m.

DA Flynn commends the thorough investigative work of the Buffalo Police Homicide Squad, including Detective Sgt. Carl Lundine and Detectives Joy Jermain, Patricia Wrest, James Kaska and Brendan Kiefer.

John Patrick Feroleto, Chief of the DA’s Felony Trials Bureau, prosecuted the case.