UPI - Shot from woods kills grandmother

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Slowpoke_Rodrigo

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STORY

Thursday, 8 June 2000 8:35 (ET)

Shot from woods kills grandmother


TAUNTON, Mass., June 8 (UPI) -- Two teenage boys were being questioned
Thursday in the shooting death of a Massachusetts grandmother while she was
watching over her 2-year-old grandson at a busy playground.

Lisa Costa, 40, of Taunton, Mass., was hit in the chest by a bullet fired
from some nearby woods Wednesday evening. She died a short time later at
Morton Hospital in Taunton.

Plymouth County District Attorney Paul Walsh said two boys, 16 and 17,
were in custody Thursday and being questioned about the shooting.

"One of them was drunk," Walsh said. He said a gun had been recovered.

Walsh said charges were being considered against the two youths.

Taunton Police Lt. James Coelho said, "It appears the shot came from a
wooded area at the back of Memorial Park" and struck Costa in the chest.

Other children were playing in the park at the time, but no one else was
hurt.

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Slowpoke Rodrigo...he pack a gon...

"That which binds us together is infinitely greater than that on which we disagree" - Neal Knox

I'll see you at the TFL End Of Summer Meet!
 
UPDATE

Thursday, 8 June 2000 13:58 (ET)

Prosecutors say shots deliberate


TAUNTON, Mass., June 8 (UPI) - Prosecutors said Thursday a teenage boy
deliberately fired a rifle he allegedly had stolen at a woman who was
playing with her 2-year-old grandson and other children at a park in
Taunton, Mass.

Lisa Costa, 40, of Taunton, was hit in the chest by a bullet fired from
some nearby woods Wednesday evening and died a short time later at Morton
Hospital.

Bristol County authorities at first thought she might have been the
accidental victim of a stray bullet, but after questioning a group of youths
found in the woods, they charged a 16-year-old boy with murder.

The suspect, George Powers, pleaded innocent when arraigned as an adult
Thursday and was ordered held without bail. He and a 17-year-old companion
were also charged with breaking and entering in the earlier theft of the
rifle from a home.

Prosecutors said Powers brought the weapon to the woods near Memorial Park
and after some random shooting, told his friends he was going to shoot
somebody in the park. He then took aim and fired, hitting Costa, prosecutors
said.

District Attorney Paul Walsh said that after the youths were questioned,
Powers was arrested and charged with murder.

An attorney for Powers, however, said his client denied firing the fatal
shot. The lawyer said Powers claims the others "concocted a story to
implicate my client" in order to cover up their own involvement.

However, the father of one of the other youths told WBZ radio that it was
"not a random shot" that killed Costa. He said his son told him that Powers
"leveled the gun, looked through the scope and pulled the trigger."

Other children were playing in the busy park at the time, but no one else
was hurt.
 
Can't we just go a week without some crap like this happening ? It shows you where we are morally in this country. It's the age of the victim, and there's a lot of them, only thing is they seem to be the ones doing all the crime.
 
UPDATE

Friday, 9 June 2000 7:48 (ET)

Report: teen shot woman on a dare


TAUNTON, Mass., June 9 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts mother of five was shot to
death on a dare as she played in a crowded park with her 2-year-old
grandson, a report said Friday.

Lisa Costa, 40, died Wednesday night after being struck in the chest by a
single shot fired from about 150 feet away where four teenage boys were
allegedly drinking beer and playing with a stolen rifle.

One of the youths, George Powers, 16, was later arrested and charged with
murder for firing the fatal shot.

"They (the other teenagers) dared him to do it," Costa's friend, Elizabeth
Masiello, said in Friday's Boston Herald. "It makes it even worse, knowing
there wasn't a reason."

Costa was playing with her grandson and two of her five daughters in
Memorial Park near her Taunton, Mass., home when she was felled by the
bullet. Witnesses told police they saw her fall and call for help.

Taunton DPW worker Peter Rodriguez, also a friend of the victim, said that
when Costa saw blood on her chest, "She yelled to one of the kids to go call
911."

Police said it was the accused shooter who called 911.

"After he fired the fatal shot, he ran over to the victim," Taunton Police
Chief David Westcoat said.

Westcoat said the four youths were firing a stolen .22-caliber rifle into
a pond at the park when Powers turned the weapon on Costa. Westcoat said
Costa then told his buddies, '"Now I'm going to shoot at someone in the
park.'"

"It was a random, senseless act of violence," Westcoat said. "There is no
doubt in our mind that this was not an accident."

Powers, a Taunton High School dropout, was arraigned as an adult Thursday
on a charge of first-degree murder and ordered held without bail.

At the arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Chris Markey said
witnesses were "absolutely consistent" that Powers was the shooter.

"He put the gun up on his shoulder, looked through the scope and shot
her," Markey said.

Powers' attorney, Francis O'Boy, however, denied that, saying the other
three teens were framing his client.

"The other three were best friends and he was the outsider so they blamed
him," O'Boy said. "They concocted a story to implicate him and take the
burden off themselves."

Powers was also charged with breaking and entering in connection with the
theft of the rifle from an area home. Also charged with that crime was
Nicholas Hutchins, 17. Authorities said they are considering charges against
the other two youths.

Rita Savoy, whose son is the father of Costa's children, said in Friday's
Boston Globe that Costa was "a typical grandmother, a good grandmother."

"One day she's fine," Savoy said. "It's hard to understand this crazy
world."
 
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