BOSTON — A Mattapan neighborhood is demanding answers after a man whose weapons case was dismissed just weeks ago is now charged with stabbing another man to death in a late-night street attack that has rattled an already uneasy community.

Police say 29-year-old Javonte Robinson is accused of fatally stabbing a man near 30 Fremont Street on Saturday night, in an assault so violent that first responders found the victim bleeding out on the pavement. Officials have not yet released the victim’s name, but the block was flooded with cruisers, flashing lights, and detectives canvassing the area as yellow tape flapped in the wind.

Robinson was arraigned Monday and ordered held without bail. But the uproar began long before the paperwork even hit the clerk’s desk — because of what happened last month.

Just weeks earlier, Robinson walked free after a weapons and drug case against him was dismissed under the state’s so-called Lavallee protocol — a procedural rule that forces judges to toss cases when the court cannot find an attorney in time. The dismissal was not a finding of innocence. It was a breakdown in the system, the kind of bureaucratic failure that routinely sends defendants back onto the streets even when serious charges are pending.

Court records show the October case involved allegations of carrying a dangerous weapon and possession of Class A drugs. Prosecutors didn’t withdraw because the evidence collapsed — they withdrew because the clock ran out. Massachusetts continues to face a chronic shortage of defense attorneys willing to take court-appointed cases, a crisis that has led to a growing list of defendants being released simply because the state cannot process them fast enough.

The killing has also renewed criticism of Governor Maura Healey, who oversees the state systems now buckling under attorney shortages and case delays. Healey has spent months insisting her administration is stabilizing the public defender crisis, yet violent cases continue to collapse and suspects continue to walk out of court because the state cannot meet basic constitutional requirements. Critics say Healey has built a national political profile while leaving Massachusetts communities to deal with the consequences of a justice system that cannot keep up with repeat offenders.

Now, the fallout is deadly.

Saturday night’s stabbing has intensified scrutiny on the courts, especially given Robinson’s past legal history. In 2022, a gun and drug case against him was also withdrawn after a judge suppressed evidence following a ruling on an unlawful stop. That case never proceeded to trial either, marking yet another moment where the system failed to move a case forward.

The Mattapan killing has now become a flashpoint in a broader debate over how many violent suspects are slipping through the gaps created by attorney shortages, procedural deadlines, and case backlogs. Public records show the earlier charges against Robinson could have been refiled — but were not before the fatal stabbing occurred.

Authorities say the victim’s name will be released once the family is notified. A full autopsy report is pending, and investigators remained on scene into the following morning collecting evidence and reconstructing the timeline of the attack.

Robinson is due back in court later this month as prosecutors prepare for a probable cause hearing. The community, shaken and angry, is watching closely — and the questions about how this happened are only growing louder.