Man gets 15 years in prison for ‘horrific’ Mass and Cass knife attack

At least one sad mass-and-casual story came to an end Wednesday when a Boston man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the 2021 stabbing death of 33-year-old Richard Ghiozzi.

David Robinson, 52, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in Suffolk Supreme Court. Judge Mary Ames sentenced him to 15 years in state prison.

“I lost my beautiful firstborn son on January 4, 2021, the day that turned our lives upside down forever,” the victim’s mother, Janet Ghiozzi, wrote in a victim impact statement read in court by prosecutor David Bradley. She wrote that she and her family decided not to be present at the sentencing because they could not bear to relive the pain of the tragedy.

“David Robinson, you not only took Richie’s life that day, you took everything from us. Our family, our sense of security, our laughter and our potential,” the statement continued. “It is so difficult to find words effective enough to describe the devastation you have caused to my entire family.”

Prosecutors say Robinson and another man, Robert Jamison, stabbed Ghiozzi on Jan. 4, 2021, at the fire station on Southampton Street, near the epicenter of a former tent city of addiction and violence near the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Blvd. After the tents were taken down there, it didn’t take long for the problem to recover and develop.

Prosecutors allege that after Robinson stabbed Ghiozzi, which turned out to be fatal, Jamison then stomped on Ghiozzi’s head. Jamison’s case is ongoing. The next hearing is scheduled for November 5th.