A man that Erie County District Attorney John Flynn says was a suspect from the start was arraigned Friday morning in connection with a gruesome hit-and-run on Broadway near Bailey Avenue three summers ago.
D'Mario Ceasar, 34, entered a plea of not guilty to charges of second degree manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident.
"We've been working on this case for now three years, trying to dig and find any information we could to get to get this resolved," said Flynn. "Within the past few months, I can't tell you what the evidence is, but I have got the evidence that I need."
Caesar is accused of driving a Range Rover along Broadway in the early morning July 16, 2017. The victim, 31-year-old Brandyn Mallory, had just left a nearby nightclub and was attempting to cross the street when he was fatally struck. The vehicle sped away.
Flynn noted it was just one of many cases of hit-and-run incidents in the Buffalo area that summer.
"We saw a lot of those cases in 2017. But there were a few that went unsolved," he said. "There are still a few pending that have gone unsolved, but this one was at the top of my list of trying to solve because of the horrific nature of this crime."
Caesar was arraigned virtually. He is currently held in Chautauqua County on an unrelated federal drug and weapon charge. Judge Kenneth Case assigned Joseph Terranova to serve as his defense attorney.
A date for the next hearing in this case was not yet scheduled.