BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Buffalo man accused of several crimes stemming from a fatal Maserati crash in South Buffalo in 2019 plead guilty to four felonies on Tuesday morning in an Erie County Courtroom.
Antonio Brown plead guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and second degree manslaughter in the incident that killed AJ Twentyfive III and Kristin Labruno. Brown, 34, will spend anywhere from 3 to 9 years in prison for his role.
"We've come to a point where Mr. Brown and through basic facts of the case, we decided it was time for him to take accountability for his role in what happened that night," Dan Dubois, Brown's attorney, said. "It was an accident. And I stress that term: Accident. Because that's what it was. Neither party went out that night looking to have this happen. It was a tragic, tragic, event."
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn commended Brown for plead guilty, saying it spared the families of the victims the anguish of going to trial.
"You have two families here the lost their loved ones and they have now legal closure," Flynn said. "They're never going to have full closure, obviously, because they're never going to get their loved ones back."
The incident happened on October 27, 2019 at approximately 2:37 a.m. Brown sped his Maserati on Seneca Street when he struck the Toyota Yaris that had Twentyfive and Labruno in it near Pomona Place. LaBruno and Twentyfive III died of blunt force trauma.
There was much discussion of this case due to the length of the investigation. One of the reasons was because there was no one locally who could inspect the black box inside the Maserati. DA John Flynn previously told reporters that the crash scene was "chaotic" and it took months to recreate the scene and get a toxicology result.
After pleading guilty, prosecutors sought for Brown to be remanded until his sentencing on September 7. However, the defense argued that Brown had no criminal history and appeared at all of the court dates related to this incident. Judge Caroline Wojtaszek sided with the defense, meaning Brown is free on bail.
