A man has admitted fatally stabbing his former girlfriend, with whom he shared two daughters, and fleeing Massachusetts, prosecutors said.
Christopher Howard, 42, was arrested in Jacksonville, Florida, a week after the May 10, 2022, murder of Terkeisha Boykins, 40. On Tuesday, weeks before his trial was scheduled to begin, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said.
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Howard was sentenced to life in prison. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Mary Ames allowed him parole eligibility at 20 years.
Four of Boykins' six daughters testified about her kind and generous spirit in court, prosecutors said, sharing parts of their victim impact statements.
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"It's unfair that my sisters and I had to lose our loving, kind, caring and heartwarming mother at a young age. 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," her 16-year-old daughter said in one of the statements.
Howard killed Boykins in the bedroom of her Mattapan apartment. Witnesses, hearing a commotion just before 9:40 p.m. on the night of May 10, opened the door to find Howard stabbing her, prosecutors said.
The man fled, before being tracked over 1,000 miles south to Jacksonville and arrested on a fugitive from justice charge.
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