A Maine man has been sentenced to up to 16 years in state prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in connection with the death of a 29-year-old woman in a Boston hotel room. Aaron Parsons, 47, of South Paris, Maine, also pled guilty to engaging in sexual conduct for a fee, according to Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, Parsons was sentenced on May 30 in Suffolk Superior Court by Judge Mary Ames to serve 14 to 16 years in prison, followed by three years of probation.
On March 13, 2020, hotel staff at the Verb Hotel on Boylston Street found the victim, Sarah Dorany, unresponsive in a hotel room. A pillow stained with dark smudges and shaped to the contour of her face was found covering her head.
According to prosecutors, Parsons and Dorany met online, arranged to meet at Eastern Standard in Kenmore Square, and then checked into the hotel. Surveillance footage shows them entering the hotel at 8:20 p.m. on March 11. Later that night, Parsons was seen at the Hynes Convention Center MBTA station around 11:23 p.m. He was later observed discarding his phone in the Seaport area near Drydock Avenue.
Parsons claimed to have memory gaps from March 11 to March 15, during which he said he woke up under a bridge in Cambridge's Fresh Pond area. The Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of Dorany's death to be mechanical asphyxiation.
Dorany’s family, speaking from Germany during the sentencing via Zoom, shared victim impact statements. District Attorney Hayden acknowledged their remarks and the court’s decision in the case.
