Maine man sentenced after pleading guilty for woman’s death in Boston hotel
BOSTON, June 13, 2025 – A 47-year-old man from Maine was sentenced up to 16 years in state prison Thursday after pleading guilty to manslaughter for the death of a 29-year-old woman found in a Boston hotel in March 2020, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
AARON PARSONS, 47, of South Paris, Maine pleaded guilty on May 30 to manslaughter and engaging in sexual conduct for a fee in Suffolk Superior Court.
Judge Mary Ames sentenced Parsons on Thursday to 14-16 years in state prison followed by three years of probation.
At approximately 12:10 p.m. on March 13, 2020, the victim, Sarah Dorany, was discovered unresponsive on the floor inside a guestroom at the Verb Hotel on Boylston Street by hotel staff. Dorany was found with a pillow covering her face. The pillow was observed to be somewhat curved and fitted to the contour of her face, with some dark smudges that appeared to be makeup.
Prosecutors said Parsons and the victim met online and had made arrangements to meet at Eastern Standard in Kenmore Square. Parsons booked a room at the Verb Hotel for them to “hook-up” afterward.
Video footage from the hotel shows Parsons and Dorany enter the lobby together at about 8:20 p.m. on March 11.
Video from the Hynes Convention Center MBTA station shows Parsons walking through the gates at about 11:23 p.m.
Parsons is observed entering his apartment building in Revere shortly before midnight for approximately 20 minutes. He is then observed leaving the building and returning about three hours later, wearing different clothing. He is then seen leaving the apartment building again shortly after 7:00 a.m. on March 12 before entering the Wonderland MBTA station.
Subsequent investigation revealed that Parsons traveled to the area of Drydock Avenue in the Seaport where he is seen on video discarding his cellphone.
Parson told investigators that he did not remember anything between going to the bathroom at the restaurant on March 11 and waking up underneath a bridge in the area of Fresh Pond in Cambridge on March 15.
On July 28, 2020, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death to be mechanical asphyxiation.
Dorany’s family and friends attended the sentencing hearing over Zoom from Germany on Thursday.
In her impact statement, Dorany’s mother wrote “the loss of her is not only my loss, it is a loss for a lot people, it is a loss for the world.”
Sarah’s younger sister described Sarah as “my hero, a shining personality, a bright star, a real brave human being.”
“Courtrooms are places where measures of justice can occur, and they’re also places where the pain and anguish of a victim’s loved ones are expressed in heartbreaking words, as happened here with Sarah Dorany’s mother and sister. I thank them for their moving remembrances, and I offer them my deepest condolences,” Hayden said.
James Borghesani, Chief of Communications