BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Buffalo man has been sentenced for gun and vehicular manslaughter charges following a 2019 crash that killed his passenger.
The Erie County District Attorney's Office says 29-year-old Tremayne D. Brooks of Buffalo was sentenced Monday to a determinate sentence of three and a half years in prison followed by an indeterminate sentenced of one to three years in prison.
According to the DA, Brooks received the determinate sentence for his guilty plea to possession of an illegal gun which he will serve before beginning his sentence on the vehicular manslaughter charge.
On August 3, 2019 around 6 a.m. Brooks was driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana when he lost control of his SUV and struck a tree on Memorial Drive.
The crash caused the vehicle to flip and his passenger, 42-year-old Toni Abernathy, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials say Brooks attempted to run away from the crash but was arrested nearby and taken to ECMC where he spent nearly a month being treated for his injuries. An illegal gun was also found inside the vehicle.
According to a release from Buffalo police in October 2019, Brooks was traveling almost double the 30 mph speed limit and had a BAC of .14 at the time of the crash.
Brooks pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular manslaughter in the first degree and one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree in November of 2020.
