Man Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter Of Cambridge Teen

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Cambridge was rocked by a report that someone had shoved 15-year-old Richelle Robinson to the ground, killing her back in the summer of 2018. Nearly three years later, Isaias Plaza, 20, of Boston pleaded guilty to manslaughter, according to the Middlesex District Attorney's office.

On July 22, 2018, Richelle Robinson, of Cambridge, was walking to a friend's house when Plaza assaulted threw Richelle to the ground. When first responders got there around 6:30 p.m., She was on the ground bleeding and unresponsive. EMTs rushed her to Mass General Hospital where she was pronounced dead the following day. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later ruled the cause of death to be blunt force trauma.

Witnesses told police they'd seen a man leaving the area on a bike wearing jeans and black sneakers with white soles. Plaza burned clothes similar to those in an effort to avoid being connected to Richelle's death, according to prosecutors.

Investigators said Richelle and Plaza had previously shared a group of friends. But Plaza had a falling out with the girl and other members of their circle of friends in the weeks before her death.

The judge sentenced Plaza to two and a half years in the House of Correction with two years to serve and the balance of his sentence suspended for five years. Upon release, Plaza is ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and submit to follow-up treatment, to undergo a substance abuse evaluation and submit to follow-up treatment, to not use drugs, to submit to random screens and to seek and maintain employment or continue education, according to the DA's office.

Previously:

• Cambridge Rallies For Family Of Teen Who Died After Assault
• Cambridge Rindge and Latin School Mourns Death Of Teen
• 15-Year-Old Girl Dies After Being Shoved To Ground