Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 36-year-old Robert L. Dumas of Buffalo pleaded guilty this morning before State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree (Class “B” violent felony).

The defendant caused life-threatening injuries to his girlfriend’s infant daughter by repeatedly assaulting the infant on September 15, 2020. The crime occurred at a home on Hirschbeck Avenue in the City of Buffalo.

The victim, 17-month-old Simone Calhoun, was unresponsive when she was taken to Oishei Children’s Hospital. The child died from her injuries on Saturday, September 19, 2020. The Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma.

Dumas faces a maximum of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced on Friday, September 9, 2022 at 9:30 a.m. He remains held without bail.

DA Flynn commends the Buffalo Police Department for their work in the investigation.   

The case was prosecuted by Chief Gary W. Hackbush of the Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Bethany A. Solek of the Vehicular Crimes Unit.