Dorchester woman charged in fatal 2014 stabbing

Maria Sanchez, 26, and her 8-year-old daughter, Danalys.Facebook

By John R. Ellement and M.G. Lee

Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent

A 30-year-old Dorchester woman was arrested on Tuesday and charged with killing Maria Sanchez, a young mother who was stabbed to death during an early morning fight at a Dorchester house party last October, officials said.

Takisa Matthews, who also goes by Takisa Williams, was arraigned in Dorchester Municipal Court Tuesday on charges of murder and armed assault with intent to murder, according to the office of Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley. She was charged with armed assault for allegedly stabbing another woman who survived. Matthews had pleas of not guilty entered on her behalf. She was arrested at her Dorchester home Tuesday, police said, and was ordered held without bail.

On Oct. 18, 2014, police responded to a report of a fight on Washington Street in Dorchester, at about 4:45 a.m, officials said.

Two groups at the party, one that Matthews was a part of and the other that included Sanchez and another woman, got into a dispute, according to Assistant District Attorney Lynn Feigenbaum. The argument moved outside, where Matthews allegedly fought with a relative of Sanchez and stabbed her repeatedly in the torso, causing serious injuries, Feigenbaum said.

Matthews then allegedly stabbed Sanchez multiple times in the back, and fled, according to Feigenbaum. Sanchez was taken to Boston Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, police said.