A Massachusetts woman will spend up to two decades behind bars after a social media feud escalated into a fatal stabbing during her first in-person encounter with the victim.
Alyssa Partsch, 33, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 to 20 years in state prison for the 2023 killing of Jazreanna A. Sheppard Gonzalez, a 21-year-old mother, authorities said.
The sentence was handed down by Associate Superior Court Judge Mary K. Ames after Partsch pleaded guilty to manslaughter as part of a deal with prosecutors. She had originally been charged with second-degree murder.
The killing unfolded on the night of July 20, 2023, in downtown Boston. Police responded to the area near Tremont Street around 11:34 p.m. after receiving reports of a stabbing.
When officers arrived, they found Sheppard suffering from life-threatening injuries. She had been stabbed multiple times in the face, head, and torso. She was transported to a hospital, where she later died.
Prosecutors said the violence was fueled by a growing online conflict between the two women.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Partsch and Sheppard had exchanged a series of hostile messages on social media in the weeks leading up to the attack. During those exchanges, Partsch allegedly threatened the younger woman and attempted to provoke a physical confrontation.
Despite the escalating tension, the two had never met in person before that night.
Earlier in the evening, Sheppard had been in Boston Common near the Brewer Fountain with a friend before heading toward the Park Street MBTA station. It was there, prosecutors said, that Partsch confronted her with a knife.
Surveillance footage captured what happened next.
The two women began fighting, and Partsch repeatedly stabbed Sheppard before fleeing the scene through the transit system, according to investigators.
Authorities later identified and arrested Partsch on November 4, 2023, in Dorchester after building a case using witness statements and video evidence.
At sentencing, the emotional weight of the crime was clear.
Family members of Sheppard delivered victim impact statements, describing her as a deeply loved young woman and a devoted mother. Her death, they said, left a permanent void.
Judge Ames, addressing Partsch directly, underscored the brutality and consequences of the attack.
She called the killing senseless and pointed to the lasting harm inflicted on the victim’s family — including a child who will grow up without his mother.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden echoed those remarks, describing the killing as “impossible to understand” and praising the victim’s family for their strength in the face of devastating loss.
Partsch’s guilty plea came just weeks before her trial was scheduled to begin.
