Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 20-year-old Dalene McIlwain of Buffalo has been sentenced by State Supreme Court Justice Russell R. Buscaglia to 12 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision.

The defendant was involved in the robbery of 79-year-old Upender Bawa who was subsequently killed in his apartment above the Taste of Life restaurant on Sycamore Street in the City of Buffalo on July 17, 2016.

McIlwain pleaded guilty to Robbery in the First Degree, a Class “B” felony, in April 2017 for her role in the crime.

Her co-defendant, 27-year-old Jamell Chapman of Niagara Falls, was sentenced to 24 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision in April 2018. He pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree, a Class “B” felony, for the attack on Mr. Bawa.

A second co-defendant, 32-year-old Shanita Chapman of Buffalo, was sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison in June 2018. She pleaded guilty to Attempted Robbery in the First Degree, a Class “C” felony.

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

The case was prosecuted by John Patrick Feroleto, Chief of the DA’s Felony Trials Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Ashley M. Morgan of the DA’s Homicide Bureau.