Drunk Driver Sentenced for Killing Pedestrian In Hit-and-Run In City’s Ferry-Fillmore Neighborhood

Rinaldo R. Pearson

Forty-eight year-old Rinaldo R. Pearson of Buffalo was sentenced before Erie County Court Judge Kenneth Case to 3-6 years in prison. Pearson’s driver’s license was also revoked.

On Saturday, February 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 September 7, 2023.