BOSTON?With knowledge that former Northeastern University student Karen Young knew at least one of the men who murdered her and Roland Chow, state prosecutors are now exploring the possibility that illegal narcotics could be involved in the crime.
“We have testimony that Roland Chow [not a NU student] was involved in the sale of narcotics, not Karen Young,” said Assistant District Attorney Dennis Collins.
Nathan Rivera and Terrance Brown, two 20-year-old Boston males, stand accused of murdering Young and Chow. Last week they were held without bail after being indicted for first-degree murder by a grand jury at their arraignment in Suffolk Superior Court.
They were also charged with armed home invasion, armed robbery, armed assault with the intent to murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. Both entered pleas of not guilty.
Young, a 20-year-old junior management information systems major, was in her Parker Hill Avenue apartment in Mission Hill when the masked Brown and Rivera invaded the apartment and bound its three occupants with duct tape, prosecutors said.
The gunmen then demanded money and drugs from the bound victims.
Prosecutors alleged that Rivera shot Young and Chow execution style, killing them both with multiple gun shots to the head.
A third person in the apartment was able to escape when the killers ran out of bullets, Collins said.
The survivor, whose name is being kept confidential for his safety, had the gun pressed to his head and would have met the same fate as his roommates if not for the oversight, Collins said.
“He is a lucky person,” Collins said. “[Rivera] shot Karen so many times that he, in a sense, over-killed her.”
The surviving victim gave descriptions of the suspects to police. His testimony, along with forensic evidence and other statements, have linked Rivera and Brown to the crime.
Young was reported to have begged for her life before Rivera allegedly shot her in the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Chow was also shot in the head. He was taken to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he later died.
At the time of the murder, Young was working for Hewlett Packard in Cambridge as a co-op for the company. She had previously completed two six month co-ops in Palo Alto, Calif. for Hewlett-Packard, where she was a member of their Philanthropy and Education Scholar Program.
Young leaves behind a 7-year old son, Aaron Young, who was not in the apartment during the murder.
The defendants will be back in court on Oct. 31 for a pre-trial hearing.