A 30-year-old woman accused of a deadly stabbing on Boston Common over the summer was ordered held without bail after entering a not guilty plea at her arraignment Monday in Suffolk Superior Court.
Boston police arrested Alyssa Partsch, of Dorchester, this past weekend. She was wanted on a warrant for second-degree murder in the death of Jazreanna Sheppard, 21, of South Boston.
Partsch allegedly stabbed Sheppard to death in July. Sheppard was found with stab wounds near the Park Street MBTA station and died in the hospital.
Numerous family members of the victim and the defendant attended Monday's arraignment where emotions ran high amid calls for justice. There were also tense moments outside the courtroom between the two families.
We've got the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.
Inside the courtroom, Sheppard's family sat feet away from her accused killer as they listened to prosecutors share what led to the 21-year-old's death.
Prosecutors said in court Monday that Sheppard was with a friend in Boston Common near Brewer Fountain around 11:30 p.m. on July 20 and as they went to leave, they encountered Partsch. They said witnesses allege that the two had never met in person, but they had engaged in "a series of social media exchanges" in which Partsch threatened Sheppard and was "seeking to entice her into a physical altercation."
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
As Sheppard approached the Park Street T station, prosecutors said, Partsch approached her, and could be seen on video stabbing Sheppard several times with a knife "about the face, head and torso." Partsch then fled through the MBTA transit system.
Sheppard was taken to Tufts Medical Center in critical condition, where she later died.
On Monday, Sheppard's family, surrounded by a handful of court officers, made their case for justice as the family of Partsch sat just across the aisle.
“Justice needs to be served," Sheppard's brother Kristian Valdes-Gonzalez said. "We’re here for judgment day nothing else.”
Prosecutors asked that Partsch be held without bail due to the violent nature of the incident and because there appeared to have been some planning.
Her lawyer asked for bail to be set at $10,000, saying she was arrested at her home and she's recently been promoted, working as a manager of several different Caffè Nero stores.
But Suffolk Superior Court Clerk Magistrate Edward Curley ordered Partsch held without bail. She is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 16 for a pretrial conference.
