BOSTON

Gang duo draws life without parole for killing 14-year-old

Two Boston gang members have been sentenced to life without parole for holding down and killing a 14-year-old boy who was out riding a motorized scooter.

Eighteen-year-old Joshua Fernandes and 22-year-old Crisostomo Lopes were convicted Thursday of first-degree murder for the May 2010 killing of eighth-grader Nicholas Fomby-Davis, a neighbor.

At their sentencing Friday, the boy’s father told the young men they should’ve been showing his son “how to play basketball or something” instead of taking his life.

Prosecutors say Fernandes and Lopes may have been angry because the boy and his brother had brushed past them on the scooter.

Police say Lopes pulled the boy off the scooter and held him down while Fernandes shot him four times. Fomby-Davis had no gang connections and no history of trouble with the law.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass.

Speedboat driver sentenced in accident that killed boy, 10

A Massachusetts man has been sentenced to five years in prison in connection with the death of a 10-year-old boy in a speedboat accident.

Steven Morse of Westfield was operating a speedboat on Norwich Lake in Huntington in August 2010 when it struck a kayak. Augustus “Gus” Adamopoulos and his father were fishing from the kayak. Prosecutors said Morse had been drinking beer and smoked marijuana the day of the accident.

On Thursday, a Hampshire Superior Court jury cleared Morse of six out of eight charges, including manslaughter. He was convicted of boat homicide by negligent operation, a misdemeanor, and of misleading a police officer, a felony that carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Judge Daniel Ford handed down the five-year sentence Friday after an emotional appeal from the boy’s father.

HARTFORD, Conn.

Official: Doctors could have averted beaten tot’s death

The beating death of a 3-year-old girl could have been prevented if Windham Hospital doctors had not missed signs of previous abuse during an earlier hospital visit, according to the commissioner of the state Department of Children and Families.

Hospital staff treated Athena Angeles for a cut to the head on the morning of Nov. 23, 2011. She was rushed back to the hospital later that night and died from blunt abdominal and chest trauma. Her mother and her mother’s boyfriend are charged with manslaughter.

The Hartford Courant reports that DCF Commissioner Joette Katz believes Athena would be alive today if doctors had noticed previous bruising during the earlier hospital visit.

“Had they looked at their records and seen the prior bruises and done a body examination and seen more recent bruises, my thoughts are that this child would be alive today,” Katz said.

The hospital said it is working to improve the way it handles young patients.

Storms down trees, flood roads, cut power to 27,000

Severe weather knocked out power to more than 27,000 customers across Connecticut on Friday.

The thunderstorms sweeping across the state also toppled trees and flooded several roads. State police warned commuters to watch for water on highways.

Connecticut Light & Power says those affected by outages included about 4,000 customers in Torrington, where large hail was reported.

Four airplanes destined for New York City were diverted to Bradley International Airport due to thunderstorms.

Temperatures were in the 90s for the third straight day in what has become the region’s first heat wave of the season. Cooler temperatures are expected for the weekend.

PROVIDENCE, R.I.

City designates shelters, water parks to beat the heat

Rhode Island continued to designate cooling shelters to help people beat the heat as temperatures remained in the 90s for a third day on Friday.

Cooling centers were open on Friday in locations from South Kingstown to Providence. The Providence parks and recreation department was also operating six water parks, because the city’s public pools don’t open until July 2.

Relief appears to be on the way today, with a projected high of 83 in Providence.

ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt.

Charges increased in killing of teacher lured from home

Charges have been increased to first-degree murder against a Vermont couple charged with luring a St. Johnsbury teacher from her home and killing her in March.

Caledonia County State’s Attorney Lisa Warren amended the charges against Allen and Patricia Prue on Friday, saying it was a premeditated crime.

Warren says the Prues planned in advance to kill 33-year-old Melissa Jenkins, used the ruse of a broken-down car to lure her from her home and then strangled, beat and electrocuted her with a stun gun.

Warren also says that before the crime, the couple bought a stun gun and a cell phone, which police say Patricia Prue used to call Jenkins.

The Caledonian Record reports prosecutors also interviewed inmates who said they have heard Patricia Prue talking about the crime.

HUBBARDSTON, Mass.

Police say pot plants seized on Friday worth $1 million

Police say they’ve seized $1 million worth of marijuana plants from an alleged indoor growing operation at a Hubbardston house.

The Gardner News reports police raided the secluded ranch house on Twin Hill Road at about 2 p.m. Thursday, seizing 335 plants.

Police Chief Dennis Perron said 70 percent of the house was devoted to growing marijuana. He said the layout included special rooms for cultivating and drying the plants with dedicated electrical systems. Perron said some plants were 7 feet tall and ready to be harvested.

Donald Hale of Ashburnham was arrested following the raid and faces charges of marijuana trafficking, cultivating and possession with intent to distribute. The 55-year-old Hale was arraigned Friday in Gardner District Court and ordered held on $1,000 cash bail.

FITCHBURG, Mass.

Walker dead, driver charged after punches thrown in road

Police say what started as an angry confrontation between a pedestrian and a driver in Fitchburg ended with the pedestrian dead and the driver facing manslaughter charges.

Glenn Lowell Sr. was released on personal recognizance after pleading not guilty on Thursday to manslaughter and assault and battery charges stemming from the death of Gregory Spyropoulos.

The Telegram & Gazette reports that the 50-year-old Spyropoulos died Wednesday after he was found Sunday in the street bleeding from a head wound.

Witnesses told police Spyropoulos was crossing a street when he yelled an obscenity and demanded that the driver of a passing vehicle slow down.

They said Lowell, 50, stopped and got out, and punched Spyropoulos, who fell to the ground.

Lowell told police that Spyropoulos threw the first punch.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H.

Utility worker hospitalized after getting electrical shock

Fire officials say a utility worker in Portsmouth suffered second- to third-degree burns while working in the bucket of a utility truck.

Parts of downtown Portsmouth experienced a power outage from the incident Friday morning.

Assistant Fire Chief Steve Achilles said the worker is in his 40s and was working with JCR Utility Construction of Raymond, N.H. Achilles said the work involved transferring electricity from one pole to another.

He said the worker received an electrical shock, suffered burns to the abdomen and was hospitalized.

WINDHAM, N.H.

Man dies at hospital after rescue from Canobie Lake

Firefighters said a man rescued from a New Hampshire lake has died.

They said a boater spotted a man floating in Canobie Lake in Windham about 7 p.m. Thursday.

WMUR-TV reported rescue crews arrived and two firefighters jumped into the lake. They pulled out the man and performed CPR on him. He was taken to Parkland Medical Center, where he later died.

Authorities have identified him as 41-year-old David Mason.

BURKE, Vt.

Man, 73, fatally cut by glass during break-in, police say

Vermont State Police said a man died after he broke into a home by smashing a glass window and was severely cut as he climbed through it.

Police responded to a report on Wednesday of a dead man on the kitchen floor of the unoccupied home in Burke.

They identified the man as 73-year-old Duwayne Masure of Sutton.

— From news service reports