Woman sentenced for fatally stabbing boyfriend in 2023

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A Buffalo woman has been sentenced for fatally stabbing her boyfriend last year in the city's Masten Park neighborhood, the Erie County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday.

Teiyahna Bivens, 22, received an indeterminate sentence of four to 12 years in prison, officials said.

On July 23, 2023, Bivens stabbed her boyfriend, 23-year-old Micqueal Rogers, in the chest in the area of Gerhardt and Northampton Streets, according to officials. Rogers died later at ECMC.

Bivens was originally charged with first-degree manslaughter and was facing up to 25 years in prison, but the charge was reduced to second-degree manslaughter, which she pleaded guilty to on May 14.

She was offered a plea to the reduced charge with the consent of Rogers' family on the condition that she waived her right to a Penal Law hearing, which would have allowed her to argue she was a victim of domestic violence and should get a reduced sentence, according to officials.