Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announces that Joshua L. Wright, 28, of Lackawanna, was sentenced this afternoon before Erie County Court Judge Suzanne Maxwell. Wright received an indeterminate sentence of 4 to 12 years in state prison.
On Thursday, June 5, 2025, at approximately 11:35 p.m., the defendant was intoxicated when he recklessly drove in the wrong direction on the inbound Route 5 Skyway in the City of Buffalo, causing a head-on collision with another vehicle. The defendant’s passenger, 28-year-old Shabrina Grant of Buffalo, was pronounced dead at the scene. The defendant and the driver of the other vehicle, a 46-year-old woman, were taken by ambulance to ECMC. The injured victim was treated for various physical injuries, including an injury to her hand, laceration to her knee and surgery on her right foot.
In February 2026, Wright pleaded guilty to one count of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide (Class B felony). Wright entered a guilty plea to the highest count in full satisfaction of the indictment.
DA Keane commends Officer Andrea James and members of the Buffalo Police Department Accident Investigation Unit for their work in this investigation as well as ECDA victim advocate Cathy Mitchell.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Christine O. Murray of the Vehicular Crimes Bureau.