Woman sentenced in fatal accident

A mother of four has been sentenced to eight to 12 years in prison after a drunken driving accident that killed a 21-year-old man. Police said Alison Voorhis, 48, was traveling up to 90 miles per hour on a Northborough street when she crashed head-on into a car driven by Evangelos Pashos of Shrewsbury. Family and friends of Pashos urged Judge John McCann to sentence Voorhis to the maximum 20 years in prison. McCann told the family he couldn't change the eight to 12 year sentence recommended by prosecutors unless Voorhis withdrew her guilty pleas. Voorhis told the family she was sorry for the suffering she caused. (AP)

A judge has reduced charges against two parents accused of killing their 4-year-old daughter last December with an intentional overdose of prescription drugs. Superior Court Judge John P. O'Conner Jr. said first-degree murder charges were not justified against Michael and Carolyn Riley of Hull because there was no evidence of premediation. He reduced the charges to second-degree murder. A second-degree murder conviction comes with a chance for parole after 15 years. (AP)

A Dorchester man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison following his conviction in the May 2006 armed robbery of a 42-year-old man near Wales and Harvard streets. Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said Darrell Smith, 40, was convicted on six counts, including armed robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm, and being a Level III armed career criminal. Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Donovan sentenced Smith to 15 to 17 years in prison, plus five years probation upon release.

Five men were arrested yesterday morning in connection with the possession of handgun that police say was discovered during an operation designed to reduce prostitution on city streets. Shortly after 2 a.m., police stopped a vehicle after one of the men in the car solicited a plainclothes police officer for sex. Police arrested Hector Najera, 52, of Dorchester, and charged him with soliciting sex for a fee. During the arrest, police said, they noticed open containers of alcohol and a firearm inside the vehicle. The firearm was loaded, and its serial number had been removed, police said. None of the men in the car was licensed to carry a firearm, and all were arrested. Ronald Gerald, 39, of Dorchester; David Villegas, 35, of West Roxbury; Desmond DeFreitas, 46, of Boston; and Gerald Sam, 32, of Revere, were charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

A fire ripped through a Hyde Park home last night, leaving 10 people searching for a place to spend the night. No one was injured in the fire at 61 Oak St., said fire Captain Richard Parker. Fire officials received a call for wires sparking outside the home. The wire apparently touched off a fire in the exterior wall of the six-family home. The Red Cross and the mayor's office were trying to find places for the people to stay, Parker said. The one-alarm fire caused about $20,000 in damage to the home. The city's Inspectional Services Department will examine the building tomorrow.

Two Rhode Island men arrested in connection with the killing of a man shot several times and left to die on a Foxborough street have pleaded not guilty to a murder charge. Thirty-two-year-old Ariel Morales of Central Falls and 29-year-old Jose Perez of Pawtucket were both ordered held without bail during an arraignment in Wrentham District Court Friday. Norfolk District Attorney William Keating says the two were arrested early Thursday on fugitive from justice warrants. (AP)

A 29-year-old Coventry woman with no criminal record and a history of volunteer work was sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing a Warwick teen while driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana. Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. said Friday that although he doubted Dawn Simas would end up in court again, she had committed an "unforgivable" offense and needed to serve significant prison time. He sentenced Simas to 15 years in prison, with 10 years to serve and the rest on probation. Simas killed Anthony Gemma, 17, by hitting his car head-on last Dec. 15. Simas had a blood alcohol content of .17 percent, twice the legal limit, when she turned down a friend's offer of a ride home from a bowling alley. Prosecutors say she was driving 71 miles per hour when she hit Gemma's car on Route 6. (AP)