Surveillance video obtained by NBC10 Boston appears to show a man setting himself on fire outside the Four Seasons hotel in downtown Boston, in what witnesses described as a deeply upsetting scene.
The incident happened around 8:15 p.m. Wednes…
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6 indicted on murder charges in Lynn shooting that killed 2 and hurt 5 last year
Six people have been indicted on murder charges in a drive-by shooting that killed two people last year in Lynn, Massachusetts, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The shooting happened around 2:20 a.m. on Sept. 2, 2023, at a gathering on Essex Street…
‘Hard to relive’: Leominster continues to recover 1 year after flooding
A year has passed since a major flooding emergency impacted Leominster, Massachusetts.
On Sept. 11, 2023, it just kept raining. Paul Maguy was home, watching the water rise rapidly before he and his wife couldn’t wait any longer, evacuating with the rest of his neighborhood.
“Within an hour, we were totally underwater here,” Maguy said. “It was a tough day, hard to relive.”
Leominster was pounded with some 10 inches of rain as a storm stalled over the city. Roads were washed away, as were train tracks. In an instant, the ground under one home at the intersection of Pleasant Street and Colburn Street was gone, leaving the front of the house hanging in the air.
“You learn to not take for granted what you have, you know,” Maguy said as he reflected on the aftermath of that night.
Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella says the work to rebuild continues. He estimates some $30-$35 million in damage to public infrastructure occurred from the flooding.
Many roads in town are safe, but temporary, Mazzarella said, explaining they need to be replaced.
“We all suffer from a little bit of — every time it rains, or we hear heavy rains,” Mazzarella said Wednesday.
Complicating things, Leominster was not approved for some federal aid, so city leaders are looking to grants and other ways to pay for what needs to be fixed.
“Is it frustrating, yeah,” Mazzarella said. “But if I put all my energy towards the frustration, nothing will get done.”
FEMA tells NBC10 Boston it handed out $4.5 million in aid to more than 800 impacted home and business owners.
For residents, lessons from that night when the rain wouldn’t stop remain top of mind.
“Take care of each other, because nothing else matters,” Mazzarella said. “I think we all learned that.”
Karen Read files appeal to top Mass. court, records show
Karen Read‘s legal team has appealed a recent ruling to Massachusetts’ highest court, apparently seeking to have two charges brought against her thrown out after the judge who’s overseen the case declined to do so.
Wednesday’s filing in Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court, as recorded in the court’s docket, shows three attorneys of Read’s, including David Yannetti, filed the appeal over their motion to dismiss charges over their claims Read would face double jeopardy.
Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone in August denied Read’s motion to dismiss the two charges, thereby allowing prosecutors to bring all three charges, including second-degree murder, at the upcoming retrial in the closely watched case.
The defense had argued that, when Cannone declared a mistrial in the case, the jury would have found Read not guilty on two of the three charges brought against her by the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office in the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. They cited communications from jurors who reached out after the mistrial and said trying her again on those two charges would amount to double jeopardy.
Prosecutors had urged the judge to dismiss what they called an “unsubstantiated but sensational post-trial claim” based on “hearsay, conjecture and legally inappropriate reliance as to the substance of jury deliberations.”
In her ruling, Cannone wrote, “this Court concludes that because the defendant was not acquitted of any charges and defense counsel consented to the Court’s declaration of a mistrial, double jeopardy is not implicated by retrial of the defendant.”
NBC10 Boston has reached out to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office and Read’s lawyers for comment.
