Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 23-year-old Nateonna J. Roland of Buffalo pleaded guilty, as charged, before State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree, a Class “B” violent felony. The defendant pleaded guilty on the day jury selection was set to begin in her trial.

On Wednesday, July 24, 2019, at approximately 11:30 a.m., the defendant stabbed her boyfriend, 21-year-old Brendan Benjamin, on East Eagle Street in the City of Buffalo during a domestic dispute. The victim was taken to Buffalo General Medical Center in a private vehicle where he later died from his injuries.

Roland faces a maximum of 25 years in prison when she is sentenced. She is scheduled to return for a hearing on Friday, March 13, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. She continues to remain held without bail.

DA Flynn commends the Buffalo Police Department for their work in the investigation, including Sgt. William Cooley, Detectives John Paradowski and Patricia Wrest, and Officers Lamar R. Reeves and Kaitlynn A. D'Amico.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Newton and Louis Mussari of the DA’s Felony Trials Bureau.