2 arrests made in woman's killing

The cooperation of witnesses led to the arrests yesterday of two Boston men, whom authorities called known gang members, in the high-profile killing of a 22-year-old woman after a house party in Dorchester last month.

Chiara Levin, who was visiting from New York, was caught in crossfire between Manuel Andrade, 33, of Dorchester, and Casimiro Barros , 20 , of Roxbury, Suffolk County prosecutors announced yesterday in a press conference after their arrests. Andrade and Barros will be arraigned tomorrow in Dorchester District Court on murder, assault, and weapons charges, prosecutors said. Both men have lengthy criminal records, including gun charges, said a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

"It is imperative to note that considering past incidents in the city, the cooperation from witnesses played a crucial role in our efforts to build this case," Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said during the press conference. Davis also said the two men are "both gang members," but did not elaborate.

Levin's killing was one of a string of brazen shootings over little more than a month in less than a square mile area of Dorchester. Boston has had 19 slayings this year, compared with 14 at this time last year, police said. Arrests have been made in only four of this year's cases, including Levin's killing, because witnesses have often been reluctant to cooperate, police said.

Levin, who was visiting Boston for a relative's birthday party, was shot in the head while sitting in a Cadillac Escalade outside a crowded Dorchester house party on Geneva Avenue in the early hours of March 24. She had met Andrade and two of his friends earlier at Caprice Restaurant and Lounge, a popular nightclub in Boston's Theater District. At closing time, Andrade invited Levin and two male friends from her alma mater, the University of Michigan, to an after-hours party in his Dorchester neighborhood.

A fight broke out at the party shortly before 4 a.m., around the same time Levin and her friends were trying to leave. Andrade, who had offered them a ride home, allegedly shot another partygoer, whom police would not identify, in the shoulder.

Andrade then walked toward the car, where Levin, her two friends, and Andrade's two friends were waiting. Andrade stood next to the car and allegedly traded shots with Barros, who stood in front of the house. Authorities would not say why the men were fighting.

Levin was killed by a single bullet to the head. Police and prosecutors would not identify who fired the fatal shot but said that under Massachusetts law, all armed participants of a shootout are culpable.

Levin's death heightened outrage over violence in the city.

"I don't know how to describe what a mother can feel when this happens," said Grazia Levin, Chiara Levin's mother, in a brief phone interview from her home in Danville, Ky. "Nothing can get back my daughter."

Grazia and Bill Levin released a statement yesterday, saying, "We hope that the loss we are enduring that has changed our lives forever and from which there is no recovery will help others to reflect upon the senselessness of violent responses to conflict and the danger of easy access to and misuse of weapons. "

In the statement, Levin's parents also expressed gratitude to the Boston Police Department and witnesses who cooperated with the investigation.

One community leader in Boston also said he was glad to hear that witnesses had cooperated in the case.

"There have been so many cases where there's been problems in getting witness cooperation so it's great news when the community comes forth and testifies," said Emmett Folgert , director of the Dorchester Youth Collaborative. "It restores our justice system."

Maria Barros, mother of Casimiro Barros, said she was awakened at about 10 a.m. yesterday by banging at the door and a police officer yelling "open the door" repeatedly, before they arrested her son.

The family was locked out of their George Street house in Roxbury for several hours yesterday, while police worked to obtain a search warrant. Two police cruisers sat by the house and yellow tape was draped around a wrought-iron fence bordering the home.

"My son didn't hurt anyone," said Barros. "We've never had a problem with him and I don't believe that, that he shot someone."

Nearby, Casimiro's older sister, Sandra, said he was not at the house party that Levin attended.

"He was nowhere around that place. He's been trying to affiliate himself with other people. The day that happened, we we re watching the news together and he said 'Oh no, that's a pretty girl,' " said Sandra Barros. "The police, they just don't like my brother, and they come after him every time something bad happens."

Sandra Barros said her brother had just been released from jail last week after a brief stay, but she declined to specify why he had been arrested. She said he was preparing to start a new job tomorrow with a cleaning service in Braintree, and that he attended Dorchester High School and later earned his GED.

Levin, a native of Danville, Ky., had recently moved to New York City to work as a booking agent after graduating from college last April.

She was visiting Boston to celebrate the 90th birthday of her great-aunt.

Levin's cousin, Jonathan Schwab, had a message for her killer several weeks ago.

"Nothing you do can bring her back, but you can still do something to help those who loved her," Schwab, 26, wrote in a letter to the editor, published in the Globe April 1. "Throw away your weapons, give up violence, and tell others to do the same. If you can't turn yourself in, at least realize you must not continue down this path of violence. I don't want to see more people killed, accidentally or intentionally."

Schwab, who lives in Telluride, Colo., said in a telephone interview yesterday that he plans to visit Levin's parents in Kentucky tomorrow, the first time he will see the family since her death.

"I hope justice will be served," Schwab said. "We all miss her and it certainly hasn't gotten easier. But with time, we'll learn to deal with it."