BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Erie County District Attorney's Office announced that 33-year-old Deyanna J. Davis pleaded guilty Wednesday in Erie County Court to one count of second-degree assault as jury selection was scheduled to begin in her trial.
The district attorney's office said on June 1, 2020, Davis drove her vehicle through a law enforcement blockade during a protest on Bailey Avenue near Decker Street in Buffalo. New York State police said trooper Ronald L. Ensminger Jr., a 19-year member of the NYSP, was truck and suffered a shattered pelvis and broken leg. He was released from ECMC on June 20, 2020. According to the district attorney's office, he was unable to return to work and retired due to his injuries. Two other officers were also hurt.
In September 2021 Ensminger sued the City of Buffalo alleging that it violated numerous regulations, policies and procedures which resulted in his injury. Ensminger's attorney, Thomas J. Grillo, Jr., Esq., of John J. Fromen, Attorneys at Law, P.C., released a statement which said in part:
“We are looking forward to focusing on the civil matter against all of the defendants, including the City of Buffalo."
In March 2021 Davis was arraigned on an indictment charging her with two counts of assault in the first degree.
In December 2022, Davis' defense team asked for a delay in the trial and to be removed from the case stating they had an "irreparable breakdown in communication” with their client and noted, “we need to part ways." Erie County Court Judge Kenneth Case granted the delay but noted there had been “numerous adjournments” in the case.
Davis faces a maximum of seven years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 17. She remains released pending sentence on a $200,000 bond previously posted in Buffalo City Court.
There were two passengers in Davis' vehicle at the time of the incident. One of the passengers, 27-year-old Semaj T. Pigram of Buffalo, was linked to a loaded handgun found inside the vehicle that was reported stolen from West Seneca in January 2020. He pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in September 2022 and was sentenced to seven years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.
The second passenger was initially charged and arraigned in Buffalo City Court but the charge was dismissed.
