Man sentenced to life for random Route 23 bus stabbing

The man convicted of randomly stabbing to death a fellow passenger as he stepped off an MBTA bus was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday.

Javahon Goodwin, 23, was convicted of second-degree murder on Monday for the stabbing death of Rashad Lesley-Barnes on Aug. 12, 2012. Goodwin followed Lesley-Barnes off the Route 23 bus and stabbed him multiple times, then fled the scene.

“While we can never bring true closure to Rashad’s family, I hope that today’s sentencing brings them a sense of peace in knowing that the person responsible for his murder has been held accountable,” Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley said in a press release.

“Their strength and grace through a terrible ordeal were inspiring to all of us, and they remind us what a special young man Rashad must have been.”

“I’ll never get to see him be a father, because he never had children. I’ll never get to have a mother-son dance at his wedding,” Lesley-Barnes’ mother said in a tearful victim impact statement.

“I don’t want myself or my family to be labeled as ‘victims,’” Lesley-Barnes’ older sister told the court. “We are survivors. It takes a special type of person to survive these circumstances.”