Drunk driver sentenced for killing pedestrian in hit-and-run in city's Ferry-Fillmore neighborhood

Submitted by the Erie County District Attorney’s Office

Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announced 48-year-old Rinaldo R. Pearson of Buffalo was sentenced yesterday afternoon before Erie County Court Judge Kenneth Case to three to six years in prison. Pearson’s driver’s license was also revoked.

On Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, at approximately 4:40 a.m., Buffalo Police officers responded to a 911 call about a reported accident on the 1500 block of Broadway. The officers found a female pedestrian lying in the street. The victim, 31-year-old Amber Young of Depew, was taken by ambulance to ECMC where she later died.

A short time later, Cheektowaga Police saw the defendant driving a vehicle near the border of the City of Buffalo, which matched the description of the suspect vehicle involved in the hit-and-run. The defendant, who was driving while under the influence of alcohol, hit the pedestrian and drove away from the scene without reporting the incident to police.

Pearson pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular manslaughter in the first degree (class “C” felony), the defendant pleaded guilty to the highest sustainable charge, on Sept. 7, 2023.

Keane commended the Buffalo Police Department accident investigation unit for its work in this investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Christopher M. McCarthy of the vehicular crimes bureau.