A Suffolk Superior Court judge today sentenced a Dorchester man to serve eight years in state prison for fatally stabbing 27-year-old Sheldon Andrews during a physical confrontation at a backyard barbecue two summers ago, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

On March 15, a Suffolk Superior Court jury convicted RICHARD PARRIS (D.O.B. 4/12/69) of manslaughter after about a day and a half of deliberations. Prior to sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Edward Krippendorf of Conley’s Homicide Unit recommended that Parris be sentenced to a 13-to-15-year term in state prison. Parris had been indicted for second-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life term with the possibility of parole after 15 years; jurors convicted him of the lesser included offense of manslaughter, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in state prison.

Krippendorf proved during four full days of testimony that Parris stabbed Andrews eight times in the head, arm, shoulder, chest, and leg on the evening of Aug. 27, 2008. The altercation erupted when Andrews confronted Parris at a Holiday Street cookout attended by friends of both men.

Prosecutors said the two men had a “tense” relationship – Andrews had hit Parris in the head with a bottle about a week and a half prior to the fatal encounter.

Parris was represented by attorney Frances Robinson. Catherine Yuan was the district attorney’s victim-witness advocate on the case.