Rodrick Taylor, charged with killing a former Milton cheerleader who resisted his advances, was convicted today of second-degree murder by a Suffolk Superior Court jury. He will be sentenced Monday.

The Suffolk County DA's office had sought a first-degree conviction in connection with the April 28, 2006 death of Dominique Samuels. They charged that after murdering Samuels, Taylor stuffed her body in her own closet for a few days before deciding to drag it down to Franklin Park and set it on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence.

Globe: Boy, 7, caught in burst of bullets while playing outside in Roxbury, on Mission Hill. At least two men, possibly a third, also shot in the Mission Main incident last night.

Boston Police report the boy was caught in gunfire between some thugs. They say that after getting shot in the stomach by one thug on a bike on Tremont, a thug and his thug pal in a Honda started looking for the shooter. When they found him on Sewall Street, they opened fire, and the little kid got hit by a stray bullet, police say. Police say the two alleged Honda thugs then switched places and the injured guy was driven to Brigham and Womens even as an ambulance was taking the kid to Boston Medical Center.

Kenny Francois, 18, of Hyde Park and, police say, not the original Honda driver, was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm, although police say they have yet to recover the gun. The Suffolk County DA's office says Francois was not charged with last night's shooting. His bail was set at $2,500 today.

Police Commissioner Ed Davis said the guilty parties in the incident should be sent away for life:

The wanton disregard for the lives of children as a result of random gunfire is unconscionable.

Boston Police report a Hillside Street resident calling on Friday to report a Monday break-in told officers that not five minutes before they arrived, the buzzer rang, nobody answered, then a guy started looking in the window. Police say the suspect is a white guy, about 6'0", weighing about 180 pounds and wearing a white bandana and a blue shirt.

I have today off, but was puzzled by why J. was still home at almost 9 a.m. In his words "the Orange Line is broken and I'm driving to work."

PROJECT BREAD SUPPORTS ‘FOOD AND FUN’ FOR ROXBURY KIDS THIS SUMMER
$225,900 in statewide grants aim to help families cope with food and gas crisis

June 27, 2008 — EAST BOSTON — When school is out, kids who rely on free or reduced-price school meals need a safe place to go where they can get a healthy meal and have some summer fun. That’s why Project Bread is providing $2,500 in incentive grants to the Summer Food Service Program in Roxbury in an effort to help families cope with the skyrocketing cost of food and gas.

A jury today began deliberating the fate of Rodrick Taylor, accused of murdering a 19-year-old former Milton cheerleader during a violent struggle, stuffing her body in a closet for several days, then dragging her body to Franklin Park, dousing it with gasoline and setting it on fire.

Prosecutors charge Taylor, staying in Dominique Samuels's Roxbury apartment as a guest of a roommate in April, 2006, turned on her radio to make it sound like she was home after he'd killed her and before he decided what to do with her body.

Deliberations come after six weeks of testimony in the case in Suffolk Superior Court - where another jury is also considering the case of Terry Gray, charged with killing his stepfather and his aunt's boyfriend in Jamaica Plain, several years after he was released from jail for stabbing a teenager to death.

State Rep. Byron Rushing holds up a 1922 newspaper. Photo by Third Decade.

Third Decade reports on what was inside a 1922 time capsule opened today at the Ferdinand building in Dudley Square:

... The Mayor and Rep. Rushing pulled out copies of the Boston Evening Transcript and the Boston Post, furniture advertisements from Ferdinand's Blue Store, and a list of employees from Ferdinand's Blue Store. ...

Next up: Figuring out what to put in a new time capsule.

Michael Harroo, 47, of Trinidad, was convicted yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court on several counts of rape, incest, indecent assault and battery and assault with a dangerous weapon, the Suffolk County DA's office reports.

Suffolk County prosecutors charged Harroo first began raping and beating a female relative, then 14, on Trinidad, then continued raping her when both came to Boston for visits with relatives on Warren Street. Finally, at age 18, she went to Boston police. Harroo was indicted here in March, 2006, then arrested on Trinidad and flown here for trial. He will be sentenced Monday.

The Globe reports on state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson's desire to avoid another embarrassment like two years ago, when she, oops, forgot to file her nomination petitions on time. The paper writes:

This year, Wilkerson qualified for the primary ballot with a whopping 3,000 signatures, 10 times the amount she needed.

Not quite. As Linda Rodriguez at the South End News reports, Wilkerson actually only qualified with 428 signatures, just one more than her opponent, Sonia Chang-Diaz. This doesn't mean the remainder of her 3,000 signatures were bad, necessarily, just that elections officials stopped looking after a certain point.

Male, 16, found with gunshot wound around 10:25 p.m. yesterday at 46 St. James St.. Taken to Boston Medical Center, pronounced dead.

The Globe identified him as Quamaine Williams.