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Man pleads guilty to murdering his former girlfriend in her Boston apartment
Christopher Howard was sentenced to serve at least 20 years in prison for stabbing Terkeisha Boykins to death in 2022.
A 42-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday to murdering his former girlfriend in her Boston apartment in 2022, prosecutors announced.
Christopher Howard was sentenced to serve at least 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 40-year-old Terkeisha Boykins. He will be eligible for parole after serving 20 years, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.
Authorities said that Howard was inside a bedroom with Boykins in her Mattapan apartment just before 9:40 p.m. on May 10, 2022 when witnesses heard a commotion from within the room. The witnesses opened the bedroom door to find Howard on top of Boykins, a mother of six daughters, stabbing her with a knife, prosecutors said.
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According to the DA’s office, Howard fled the apartment and was arrested in Jacksonville, Florida seven days later.
Howard and Boykins shared two daughters, and prosecutors said four of the woman’s children delivered victim impact statements in court on Tuesday.
“It’s unfair that my sisters and I had to lose our loving, kind, caring and heartwarming mother at a young age,” her 16-year-old daughter told the court. “I pray that my mom gets justice and that she continues to watch over all of us every day. I miss her more than words can explain.”
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“She was the kindest person I’ve ever known, and she had the biggest heart I’ve ever seen,” Boykins’s 25-year-old daughter said in her statement. “You must have a big heart to spread your love amongst six children without anyone feeling left out. She made each one of us feel special in our own way.”
Jury selection for trial of the case was set to begin later this month, the DA’s office said.
“Terkeisha Boykins’s daughters couldn’t have been more eloquent in expressing memories of their mother, who very clearly loved them and who was very clearly loved in return,” Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. “I thank them for their beautiful tributes and I thank everyone who worked so hard to bring the person responsible for Terkeisha’s tragic death to justice.”
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