Conviction upheld in murder of young woman caught in middle of a gunfight while visiting Boston

BOSTON — A man convicted of first-degree murder in the March 2007 shooting of a young woman who was visiting Boston from Kentucky will not get a new trial, or have his conviction reduced to a lesser charge.

The Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday affirmed the 2009 conviction of Michael Andrade who was convicted in the shooting of 22-year-old Chiara Levin.

“After having carefully reviewed the numerous claims in both the appellate brief and the motion for a new trial, we discern no error and no reason to exercise our extraordinary authority under G. L. c. 278, § 33E, to order a new trial or to reduce the verdict of murder in the first degree to a lesser degree of guilt. Accordingly, we affirm the convictions,” said Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt who wrote the court opinion.

Chiara Levin was caught in the middle of a gunfight between Andrade and another man after she had accepted an invitation, along with two of her friends, to go to a party after leaving a club in Boston.

The shooting happened as Levin and her friends were attempting to leave the party.

The second man charged in the case, Casimiro Barros, was tried separately, convicted and sentenced in 2009 to up to 30 years in prison for his role in the gunfight.

Levin had traveled to Boston to celebrate the 90th birthday of her aunt.

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