MANCHESTER, NH — A Manchester woman will spend decades in prison after she was sentenced Wednesday to 22 ½ to 50 years in prison for stabbing a woman 42 times in an August 2020 incident at Derryfield Court.
Jimi-Denise Bryant, 42, pleaded guilty in Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District to attempted murder and other charges.
According to court documents, at the time of the assault, Bryant lived with the victim, Brittany Sprague, then 32, and Sprague’s boyfriend, Ryan Matz, then 43, at 99 Derryfield Court.
Sprague survived the attack after being taken to the Elliot Hospital. She told a detective at the hospital she’d known Bryant for about three months and that she and Matz had hired her as their nanny. The three, she said, had become involved in a sexual relationship.
Assistant County Attorney Thomas Craig said the attack was the result of a love triangle gone wrong.
According to court records, on Aug. 27, 2020, Bryant came up behind Sprague and tried to strangle her with a video game cord.
Sprague broke free and ran outside to the courtyard. Bryant, after grabbing two knives – a steak knife and a sharp butter knife — pursued her. When she caught up to Sprague, Bryant stabbed her 42 times in the head and chest.
When police arrived about 4 o’clock that afternoon, they found Sprague bleeding on the ground next to a white Cadillac. Her chest was bloodied and blood pooled around her.
Police said Bryant was wearing an “adult-sized onesie” at the time of the stabbing.
Craig, in a statement, said Bryant committed a “horrendous and violent act which demanded a serious penalty. This sentence provides justice for the victim in this case. With this plea there will be no appeal.”
