Crime

Lynn man convicted of killing girlfriend whose body was found in Saugus marsh

“Our hope is that the family and friends of Sherell Pringle can find some comfort in this outcome,” Essex DA Paul Tucker said.

Sherell Pringle. Handout

November 5, 2025

2 minutes to read

A Lynn man was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday after he was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend, whose body was found in a Saugus marsh in 2021.

Bruce Maiben, 48, was convicted of first-degree murder Monday in the death of 40-year-old Sherell Pringle, who was reported missing days before her body turned up in the Rumney Marsh Reservation. Judge Thomas Drechsler ordered Maiben committed to Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.

“This verdict and subsequent sentence will ensure that the defendant will be held accountable for his senseless and atrocious conduct,” Essex District Attorney Paul F. Tucker said Wednesday. “Our hope is that the family and friends of Sherell Pringle can find some comfort in this outcome.”

Previously:

Pringle was reported missing by family members on Dec. 19, 2021, after she didn’t return home from a date with Maiben. Her body was found in an area off Route 107 just days before Christmas.

As the investigation unfolded, authorities arrested Maiben on charges of larceny over $1,200, tampering with evidence, and obstruction. He was later charged with Pringle’s murder and pleaded not guilty.

In a pretrial motion, prosecutors suggested Pringle was upset with Maiben and planning to end their relationship. According to the court filing, Pringle sent one of her friends a series of text messages shortly before she died indicating she was “done with [Maiben]” after he purportedly broke into her home and threatened her with a knife following an argument.

Maiben’s defense attorneys argued prosecutors didn’t prove Maiben knew Pringle wanted to break up with him, or that he would have reacted violently had he known.

Speaking to NBC10 Boston shortly after her death, Pringle’s then-teenage son, Jahmani Larionne, remembered his mother as a “strong, independent woman, a dream chaser.”

In her obituary, Pringle’s family described the Woburn woman as “driven” and “ambitious” and noted she spent more than a decade working at the Steward Medical Group in Watertown.

“She always kept her foot on the gas and never let up, a true leader,” her family wrote. “She was an amazing mother. Always pushing her son to do more and to do better. Always made sure she was the foundational support for Jahmani. They had and will always have an unbreakable bond.”

According to her obituary, Pringle loved traveling, photography, shopping, and spending time with her “boatload of relatives.”

“She enjoyed life,” her family wrote.