Sterling man gets 12 to 15 years for 2017 stabbing death of friend from Clinton

WORCESTER — A Sterling man charged with the stabbing death of a friend pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in jail Tuesday in Worcester Superior Court.

Allen F. Fawe of 16 Wilder Road, Sterling was originally arraigned on a first-degree murder charge in the Oct. 1, 2017 stabbing death of 39-year-old Jeffrey Joyce of Clinton during a party at 16A Wilder Road, Sterling.

Joyce, who was stabbed in the torso and face, died two weeks later at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.

Joyce died of sharp trauma wounds to the head and the torso, according to the office of the state medical examiner, who ruled the death a homicide.

Fawe was indicted on the murder charge Dec. 21, 2017, moving his case from Clinton District Court to Worcester Superior Court.

On Tuesday, Fawe, who is now 30, pleaded to a lesser charge of manslaughter in Worcester Superior Court.

Assistant District Attorney Anthony Melia recommended Fawe gets 18 to 20 years in jail while John J. Roemer, the attorney for the defense, recommended 12 to 15 years.

Despite the ADA’s recommendation and three victim impact testimonies read by Melia, Judge Janet Kenton-Walker sided with Roemer, the attorney for the defense.

Fawe was credited for 1,758 days while awaiting trial.

Before the ruling, Melia went over the facts of the case.

The facts

On Oct. 2, 2017, after an initial interview with police, Fawe told investigators he had lied about his involvement in the stabbing and that he intervened in a fight involving his friend, Timothy Troy, Jeffrey Joyce and Crystal Troy, who was trying to break up the altercation, Melia said.

Melia said Fawe sliced Joyce in the face with a two-bladed knife that the defendant engineered himself. After the stabbing, Fawe washed the blade and hid it in the attic of his home, Melia said.

Melia said Fawe entered voluntarily into the fight with the two other parties and showed excessive force by introducing a homemade knife in a fistfight when no other weapons were shown.

“It was merely a fistfight,” Melia said. “No lives were at stake.”

While Joyce started the fight, Melia added Fawe fatally ended the fight with anger and malice in his heart and a knife in his hand.

Melia said Fawe told police he reached around Timothy Troy and stabbed Joyce in the chest area, before slashing him in the face but later recanted and said he only stabbed Joyce in the face.

"He stated he had a knife and cannot live with the guilt anymore and he was the one who stabbed Joyce," a police report states, adding that Fawe asked the dispatcher to send a cruiser to get him and said that he would stay in a holding cell. Officers were sent to his home.

Fawe came out of his apartment when police called to him and told them he had placed a knife by the sliding glass door, according to the report.

Victim impact statements

Before resting his case, Melia also read three victim impact statements from family members of the victim.

In her victim impact statement, Heid Ash, Joyce’s older sister, said her family lives in hell and Fawe deserves to rot in jail.

Ash described her brother as an incredible athlete full of energy and mischief, as well as a “walking, talking one-man entertainment show,” with a big heart and ongoing personality.

Ash also said her brother’s proudest accomplishment is becoming a father. Joyce’s son, Adam, was 6 years old at the time of his father’s death.

Furthermore, Ash said the physical pain is unbearable and she feels like she has become a different person after Fawe killed her brother.

Robert Gale, Joyce’s stepfather, said in his victim witness statement read by Melia that he watched Jeffrey grow into a man and become a father himself. Gale said the only thing his stepson wanted to do with all his time was spend time with his own son, adding that Joyce was the most loving and generous person he has ever known.

Gale said Fawe deserves the maximum time in jail for the “evil act.”

Mary Joyce, the mother of the victim, described her loss as being the worst emotional pain one can ever experience in their life "multiplied by 1,000."

She said her son was always giving hugs and saying, "I love you," to his family.

Mary Joyce said she has constant nightmares and panic attacks since the stabbing and she can never forgive Fawe for taking her son's life.

Being that her son and the defendant were “friends” proves that Fawe is a danger to society and deserves the maximum sentence, she concluded in her statement.

Roemer said his client didn’t go out looking for a fight. He said Fawe came to the aid of someone and unjustly attacked.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Sterling man gets 12 to 15 years for 2017 stabbing death of friend from Clinton