SPRINGFIELD-- Amanda Plasse will never again have the chance to put her face to the sun -- and neither should her killer, Plasse's mothertold a Hampden Superior Court judge Tuesday.
Michelle Mathiesonspoke Tuesday at the sentencing of Dennis Rosa-Roman, who wasfound guilty Friday of stabbing Plasse to death in 2011.
Inher statement to the court, Mathiesonsaid she wanted to tell Judge Mark D. Masonmore about her daughter.
"To know her was to love her," Mathieson said. "You would only have to meet her once and you were a forever friend. She would never forget you, nor would you forget her. Crazy curly hair, stunning green eyes, covered in tatoos--her beautiful artwork."
Plasse, 20, was found deadon Aug. 26, 2011 in her School Street apartment in Chicopee. After the case remained unsolved for two years, Rosa-Roman was arrested in 2013. He spent 980 days in jail awaiting trial.
The Hampden Superior Court jurydeliberated five hours after eight days of testimony in the case, returning a guilty verdict on a charge of first-degree murder.
During closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Karen J. Bell said Rosa-Roman had killed Plasse as part of an armed robbery of marijuana and her cellphone, plus her boyfriend's knife.
The defendant's DNA was found under Plasse's fingernails, his palm print was found on a broken porch window and footprints matching his size 7 youth sneaker were found in blood next to her body.
Defense lawyer Donald Frank acknowledged that his client witnessed Plasse's death, but said another man, described as Rosa-Roman's drug dealer, was the killer. Rosa-Roman refused to identify the man out of fear for his and his family's safety, Frank said.
A first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. Becausethere was no need for a sentencing argument, the sentencing session served as a time when Mason could hear about Plasse.
Mathieson told Mason her daughter was never at a loss for comforting words, a smile, a hug.
"She would stop and give you her jacket if she saw you in the cold. Wouldn't hesitate to hand over money for food if you were standing on the corner. It didn't faze her to pick out all the red gummy bears for a child's sundae while working a shift at Friendly's," Mathieson said.
"A life taken too soon, taken so tragically on August 26, 2011. The loss is felt every day. Whether it's a song, a sight , a thought. ... Something that is lived with everyday. The pain is unbearable. ...Minutes turned to hours, hours into days, days into months and months into years. Years that I have waited for some justice," she said, adding: "Years that her family and friends have stayed strong, have held onto one another, prayed, begged, pleaded for justice."
"There are no words for such a brutal loss of a beautiful life, beautiful person, free spirited soul," she said.
Amanda's older sister, AimeeLee Plasse, put into words what it was like to tell her then-4-year-old son his aunt was gone.
When he got older, Plasse said it was time to tell him what happened. Through tears she explained the process to Mason.
She said to her son, "a man took Auntie Amanda's life. He killed her in her apartment."
Her son asked, "But why, mom?"
"To have to give him the harsh reality that, yes. People kill other people. And I can't tell him why. I have no answers as to why someone did it. Only that person knows, and it's up to only that person to explain why. I'll never have the answer for my son," Plasse said.
Wilson Mathieson, Amanda Plasse's stepfather, gave a statement thanking all the people involved in the case, saying the thanks was for "bringing justice to Amanda and the start of our closure process."
He thanked the District Attorney's Office, Bell and Assistant District Attorney Allison C. Yorlano, lead investigator State Police Sgt. Ronald Gibbons and all the troopers assigned to her case.
He also thanked detectives from the Chicopee Police Department, Lt. Eric Watson and Detective Scott Lynch.
He said the case's victim witness advocate, Jane Chevalier left her family while on vacation out of state to drive back prior to the guilty verdict to be with Michelle and himself.
Wilson Mathieson then thanked Mason for presiding over the case.
"I'll close by saying, every single person, that worked on Amanda's case, no matter how big or how small, you are outstanding individuals, in which Michelle and myself have the utmost respect for. Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts," he said.
The large courtroom was filled with family and friends of Amanda Plasse. Her brother Nicholas Plasse stood at the prosecution table with his family as they gave victim impact statements.
Rosa-Roman sat upright, in a sweatsuit, with his hands cuffed behind his back.
Frank said there is but one sentence, so he did not want to say anything.
Mason said the "unspeakable horror unbearable pain and unthinkable grief" the family suffered is something others, including himself, can't imagine.
"You all have my utmost respect for your strength and courage," he said.
What the court can do, he said, is "to bring justice to this case."
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