BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Buffalo woman has been sentenced to prison in connection to a deadly stabbing in 2019.
The Erie County District Attorney's Office announced 25-year-old Nateonna J. Roland was sentenced Friday in State Supreme Court to a determinate sentence of 10 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.
According to the district attorney's office, on July 24, 2019 Roland stabbed her boyfriend, 21-year-old Brendan T. Benjamin, with a knife during an argument outside of their residence on East Eagle Street. Benjamin was taken to Buffalo General Medical Center in a private vehicle where he died from a single stab wound to the chest.
Roland pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter in the first degree in February 2020, on the day jury selection was scheduled to begin in her trial. After entering the guilty plea, Roland's defense counsel filed a Penal Law 60.12 motion with the Court, arguing that she was the victim of domestic violence and that the abuse was a significant contributing factor to her criminal behavior.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 7 News has chosen to use Roland's mugshot in accordance with our station mugshot policy, as she has pleaded guilty and has been sentenced. You can read our full mugshot policy here.
According to the district attorney's office, prosecutors submitted written statements to the court from numerous witnesses that Roland should not be granted a reduced sentence under Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act.
"The witnesses cited numerous incidents where the defendant was the abuser and the aggressor in her relationship with the deceased and other individuals. Today, Justice Boller denied the motion by the defense," a release says.
Roland also has a pending criminal case for allegedly assaulting a jail deputy while at the Erie County Holding Center in January 2021. She was arraigned on an indictment charging her with one count of assault in the second degree in June 2021 and is scheduled to return March 14, 2022 for a pre-trial conference. She continues to remain held in custody.
