Alyssa Partsch was sentenced to 15 to 20 years in prison for the manslaughter of a young mother she stabbed during their first in-person meeting after a social media feud. The killing occurred in downtown Boston in July 2023. Associate Superior Judge Mary K. Ames imposed the sentence following Partsch's guilty plea.
On Wednesday, Associate Superior Judge Mary K. Ames sentenced 33-year-old Alyssa Partsch to 15 to 20 years in a Massachusetts state correctional facility for the 2023 slaying of 21-year-old Jazreanna A. Sheppard Gonzalez. Partsch had pleaded guilty to manslaughter after initially facing a second-degree murder charge. The incident stemmed from hostile online exchanges where Partsch threatened Sheppard and sought to provoke a fight, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. The two had never met in person before July 20, 2023. Sheppard was with a friend near the Brewer Fountain in Boston Common, heading toward the Park Street MBTA station, when Partsch confronted her with a knife around 11:34 p.m. near the 100 block of Tremont Street. Surveillance footage showed the pair fighting before Partsch stabbed Sheppard several times in the face, head, and torso. Sheppard was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to her injuries. Partsch fled through the MBTA system and was arrested on November 4, 2023, in Dorchester. At the sentencing, Sheppard's family delivered emotional victim impact statements, describing her as a deeply loved person whose heart touched everyone around her. Ames addressed Partsch directly, calling the act senseless and noting its lasting impact on the victim's child and family. 'I hope now that you see the consequences of what you've done to this family,' the judge said. Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden described the killing as a senseless, impossible-to-understand moment of violence and praised the family's expressions of love and loss.