NORTHAMPTON — A city man originally facing a first-degree murder charge for the killing of his roommate in 2022 pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in an emotional court proceeding Wednesday afternoon in Hampshire Superior Court.

Devin R. Bryden, now 27, told Judge Bertha Josephson that he killed Jana M. Abromowitz, 21. For Bryden, the plea could mean life in prison. For Abromowitz’s family and friends, it means finally achieving some closure.

Bryden had previously denied stabbing Abromowitz to death in their apartment at 11 Hatfield St., and then stealing her car. He and Abromowitz lived there in a supportive housing unit run by DIAL/SELF Youth & Community Services. According to Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Joseph Webber, Bryden killed Abromowitz, stole her car and hundreds of dollars from her, because he feared becoming homeless as he was about to “age out” of the housing unit.

“I am here to own up to my wrongful actions,” Bryden said at the change of plea hearing. “I know that what I did was wrong and I’m ready to own up to that.”

During his court appearance, Bryden wore an orange jumpsuit and nodded along as Josephson  spoke to him, giving direct, short answers. In the pews behind him, Abromowitz’s friends and family, including her mother and her best friend, Raul Mendez, who discovered Abromowitz after the murder, held up photos of her smiling and full of life.

For second-degree murder, Bryden was sentenced to a potential life sentence in state prison, with the possibility of parole after 25 years, but he will have to serve a consecutive sentence of 10 to 15 years for armed robbery. Additionally, he will serve eight to 10 years for tampering with evidence, concurrent with his sentence for armed robbery. Even if he is released, he will be under supervision for life.

Webber said that this means the earliest Bryden could potentially be released would be in 35 years.

Abromowitz was found by Mendez on July 10, 2022, dead on her kitchen floor with stab wounds covering her neck, back and arms. Mendez had called the police when Abromowitz was uncharacteristically late for a shift at work, and then went to her apartment to see what was wrong. At the apartment complex, he noticed that Abromowitz’s new Hyundai Sonata also was missing. He and other friends of Abromowitz suggested Bryden as a potential suspect to police.

According to Webber, police found the car at an Applebee’s in Westfield, where they found Bryden waiting in the driver’s seat and subsequently arrested him. Before the arrest, Bryden had disposed of the murder weapon and the sweatshirt he had been wearing at a Whately residence, where police later recovered them. When asked why he killed Abromowitz and stole her car, Webber said Bryden stated that “he needed her car.”

After being arrested, Webber said that Bryden made several calls to family and friends and wrote a letter to a friend from the correctional facility admitting that he killed Abromowitz. Appointed defense attorney Korrina Burnham said that these admissions suggested remorse on Bryden’s behalf, and shared insight about Bryden’s tumultuous upbringing, such as how he was removed from the care of his mother when she was unfit to care for him, and then bounced between the homes of family members, family friends and foster families, sustaining multiple instances of abuse along the way.

While Bryden was 24 when he committed these crimes, Burnham said that, due to his extensive trauma, he was likely not “mentally” 24. But Burnham acknowledged that “no sentence” would ever give back what Abromowitz’s loved ones had lost.

“She was a very special young woman,” Webber said. “The defendant robbed everyone of a spectacular young woman when he killed her.”

The prosecutor also noted that there was a strong case against Bryden for first-degree murder, but that foregoing a trial with this plea would avoid a “lengthy legal process” for Abromowitz’s loved ones and put an end to the case’s ongoing uncertainty.

Abromowitz’s mother, Jennifer Abromowitz, read an emotional impact statement, fighting back tears as she recalled adopting her daughter from the “atrocious conditions” of the series of Bulgarian orphanages she had lived in after being abandoned by her biological mother.

“I picked Jana from 5,000 children knowing she was the one,” she said. “Her talent and vivacious spirit inspired us all.”

Jennifer Abromowitz spoke about her daughter’s love for music, and the enormous strides she had made in battling a rare condition causing damaged capillaries to become extremely swollen and painful, often requiring major surgeries, while also battling the invisible scars of her childhood trauma.

When the police arrived at her door to inform her of her daughter’s death, Abromowitz said she was in “disbelief” that the killer was Bryden. That disbelief quickly turned to “disappointment” in Bryden, that was overtaken by her “immense and overwhelming grief.”

“No one deserves to die in such a cruel and senseless manner,” she said. She had seen her daughter just days before, thriving and independent — dutifully making rent and car payments, working her way up through Burger King’s management, and continuing to explore her “first love” of music by writing and playing songs with her friends.

“I know she’s singing with the angels now,” her mother said.

After Abromowitz’s impact statement, Josephson asked to see the photos of the victim that her loved ones had brought along, remarking “what a smile” as she thoughtfully looked through them.

“Words cannot heal,” said Josephson. “I hope there is comfort in knowing that the judicial process has come to its conclusion.”

During this period, Bryden’s gaze remained fixed on the ground.

“She’s literally an angel. She had this, like, awesome aura that everyone could feel as soon as she was in the room,” Mendez said in an interview after the sentencing as he wiped away tears. “She would literally go out of her way to help anyone in need… I’ve never felt more comfortable around someone.”

Mendez remarked that Abromowitz was his “best friend,” and recalled a fond memory of the two of them in high school, playing a prank of knocking on teachers’ closed doors and running away.

“Despite her condition, she could run,” he said, smiling.

Mendez said they pulled that prank because they were trying to make a fun memory to remember when they looked back on their time in high school together. Now, he said it is just one of many memories he has of Abromowitz, which he’ll hold onto as he tries to find closure following Bryden’s sentencing.

“It gets better with time,” he remarked. “I just don’t know when.”

Alexa Lewis can be reached at alewis@gazettenet.com.