New charges for 2 in NYC woman's killing

BOSTON
A Suffolk grand jury returned new charges Thursday against two men accused in the shooting death of a New York woman in Dorchester earlier this year. Manuel Andrade, 33, of Dorchester was charged with two counts of armed assault in a dwelling and one count of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, according to the Suffolk district attorney's office. Casimiro Barros, 21, of Roxbury was also charged with one count of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Chiara Levin, 22, was shot in the head in March after a party, which ended in a shootout between the two men. Both men were also charged with first-degree murder. Barros pleaded not guilty yesterday. Because of difficulty in getting Andrade from his secure location to court, he was not arraigned, according to the district attorney's office. He is due back in court July 18.

The state Department of Public Health unveiled two public service television announcements yesterday to alert residents to protect themselves from mosquitos carrying Eastern equine encephalitis and the West Nile virus. Each of the public service announcements is narrated by a Massachusetts resident who has been directly affected by EEE. Derek Ashworth, a 23-year-old construction worker from Rochester, recovered last year after EEE put him into a six-day coma. Halifax resident Kimberly King's 5-year-old daughter, Adreanna, died from EEE in 2005. The department is also providing $300,000 in grants to local communities for mosquito-prevention programs and awareness.

An investigation into the aborted landing of an American Eagle jet at Logan International Airport last week concluded that an electronic problem caused the jet to touch the runway without its landing gear extended, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The Embraer 135 regional jet was arriving from Toronto with 40 people aboard last week when it scraped the runway, causing sparks. No one was injured, and the pilot circled Logan before making a successful landing on the second attempt, after using an emergency procedure to get the landing gear down. (AP)

PEABODY

Police arrested two Somerville men yesterday afternoon who are suspected of robbing a bank in Peabody earlier in the day. State Police detained the pair in Saugus soon after a man entered a Sovereign Bank in Peabody and presented the teller with a note, demanding money. The suspect fled in a stolen pickup truck driven by another man, police said. State troopers stopped the pickup and recovered an undetermined amount of money. Jesse J. Descavich, 28, and Kolten Berg, 27, will be arraigned Monday in Peabody District Court on charges of unarmed robbery, police said.

CAMBRIDGE

Three 19-year-old Lowell men have been indicted by a Middlesex grand jury for what authorities are calling a hate-based attack on a transsexual in Lowell on June 2. Jules Ruggs, Jeffrey Buchannan, and Jonathan Artis are accused of following the victim home from a nightclub and punching him repeatedly, the Middlesex district attorney's office said yesterday. The men allegedly used epithets about the man's sexual orientation prior to and during the beating. and told the victim, "We don't like your kind in our neighborhood." The man's lip was severely lacerated, and his back was injured in the attack, authorities said. All three defendants are charged with violation of constitutional rights, assault and battery for purpose of intimidation due to sexual orientation, and assault and battery. They are to be arraigned in Lowell Superior Court July 25.

LYNN

Lynn police shot a dog yesterday after they responded to a domestic violence call involving a fight between a brother and sister and found the animal attacking the girl, 15. When officers arrived shortly before 10 a.m. at a home on Grover Street, they tried to force the dog to release the girl's arm by pepper spraying the animal and striking it with a baton. Police said that the dog then turned on one of the officers and that the officer had no choice but to shoot the dog. The girl was treated at North Shore Children's Hospital for bites to her arm and back. Her 14-year-old brother was arrested and charged in connection with the domestic incident. Lieutenant Dave Brown said the dog survived the shooting and was being treated at North Shore Animal Hospital.