Verdict is guilty in one of two slayings

A Suffolk Superior Court jury convicted Terry L. Gray yesterday of first-degree murder in a 2005 shooting, but was still deliberating on a second murder charge facing the 40-year-old Boston man. The jury found Gray guilty of killing Charles Wilson, 65, a family friend, in a senior housing complex in Jamaica Plain. They also found him guilty of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. Gray is also accused in the 2005 killing of his stepfather, James Gray, 61, whose body was found after Wilson's killing. Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley contends that the stepfather was shot to death in his Roxbury home three days before Wilson's death and that both men were killed by the same 9mm handgun.

The Vietnamese-American Civic Association in Dorchester has replaced its executive director and has asked workers to take voluntary layoffs as officials scramble to save the agency from financial problems. At least five workers have agreed to be laid off, and more layoffs could come, said Nga Than Nguyen, a member of the board of directors. She said officials recently discovered a significant deficit in the agency's $1.2 million budget and replaced the executive director. The layoffs occurred Sunday. Board members are auditing the agency's finances, but do not know how the deficit occurred, she said.

The House overwhelmingly approved a proposal yesterday that would require Massachusetts health insurers to cover mental health and substance abuse disorders in the same way they treat other medical conditions. The legislation would lift limits on hospitalizations and outpatient treatments for dozens of maladies, such as eating disorders, post-traumatic stress, and drug addictions. Current law divides mental health insurance coverage into two categories. The first includes illnesses such as schizophrenia, paranoia, bipolar, and obsessive-compulsive disorders, which are treated in the same way as other medical conditions. The second category includes disorders such as post traumatic stress and allows insurers to limit treatment to 24 outpatient sessions and 60 days of hospitalization per year. The measure now goes to the Senate.

A 25-year-old Chelsea man was held on $10,000 bail yesterday on charges of aggravated rape. Seferino Vega is accused of beating and sexually assaulting a 31-year-old woman in a Fremont Avenue apartment early Friday. The victim told police that after Vega invited her into his apartment, he secured the door with rope and hit her with a cement block when she attempted to leave. She said Vega raped her multiple times and threatened to kill her if she told police. The suspect was identified and arrested Friday afternoon. He been ordered to stay away from the victim and to surrender his passport to authorities. He is to appear again in court on July 10.

An Orlando, Fla., man accused there of sexually assaulting his girlfriend's 6-year-old daughter faces arraignment as a fugitive after being arrested in Massachusetts. Faustino Santiago, 34, was arrested in Revere Saturday. Massachusetts State Police say officers found Santiago hiding in a basement apartment under a mattress. The alleged victim's mother moved to Revere after she reported her daughter had been sexually assaulted in April. Police said they recently learned that Santiago followed the girl and her mother to Revere. (AP)

A man found dead behind a Lynn bakery early yesterday morning was a homicide victim, officials have determined. The officials would not identify the man or how he was killed. "It appears to be foul play," said Steve O'Connell, spokesman for the Essex district attorney's office. He said he expected autopsy results today. O'Connell said the man was Hispanic and believed to be in his 20s.

Temple Ahavat Achim, which was destroyed last December by a fast-moving fire, will be rebuilt on the same site in downtown Gloucester. The fire, which began in an adjacent apartment building, killed one person and left 30 people homeless. Since the fire, the 220-family congregation has held Sabbath services at a local church.