Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 28-year-old Blair Bell of Cheektowaga has been sentenced by State Supreme Court Justice Paul Wojtaszek to 6 months of intermittent incarceration and 5 years of probation.

On May 4, 2019, at approximately 11:30 p.m., the defendant was driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol when he struck 46-year-old Tonya Gravely. The defendant hit the victim as she was removing items from her own vehicle that was parked on Pine Ridge Road in the Town of Cheektowaga. The victim was taken to ECMC where she was pronounced dead.

Bell pleaded guilty to one count of Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree, a Class “D” felony, on Thursday, October 17, 2019. He pleaded guilty to the highest sustainable charge.

DA Flynn commends Lt. Steven Berecz of the Cheektowaga Police Department for his work in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Christopher M. McCarthy of the DA’s Vehicular Crimes Bureau.