By Aaron Gouveia
agouveia@capecodonline.com
April 02, 2010
BARNSTABLE — Andrea Mastandrea, the Plymouth woman accused in the hit-and-run death of a Buzzards Bay 17-year-old, has been indicted by a Barnstable Superior Court grand jury.

Mastandrea, 28, allegedly struck and killed Andrew Dexter Jr. while he was walking home from a New Year's Eve party on Head of the Bay Road in Buzzards Bay, early in the morning of Jan. 1.

Dexter's body was found hours later behind a guardrail by a man walking to work.

The indictment was handed down yesterday afternoon. Mastandrea will be charged with motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation, driving an uninsured motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident causing death, said Michael Trudeau, Cape and Islands first assistant district attorney.

The charge of leaving the scene is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in state prison if convicted, while the motor vehicle homicide carries up to a 2½-year sentence.

Mastandrea will be arraigned in Barnstable Superior Court on May 4.

"I'm breathing a little easier today knowing the process is moving forward," said Andrew Dexter Sr., the victim's father.

Edward Gargiulo, Mastandrea's attorney, did not return a phone message seeking comment yesterday.


Police got anonymous tip
Police first targeted Mastandrea the day after the accident, when an anonymous caller told Wareham police she was responsible for Dexter's death, according to court records. And police discovered her 2003 Ford Explorer parked at her home in Plymouth with extensive front-end damage just days after the crash.

But it took more than two months to build the case against her.

Mastandrea was arrested on March 17 and arraigned in Falmouth District Court, where she was released on $1,000 bail. Investigators said Mastandrea, who was working as a waitress at the Mezza Luna Restaurant on New Year's Eve, ended her shift at 11:30 p.m. but remained at the restaurant to drink with friends and fellow employees.

At 12:40 a.m., Mastandrea and three other friends drove to a Marc Anthony's Pizzeria in Onset where they ordered food and pitchers of beer, according to the police report.

The group drove back to the Mezza Luna at 2 a.m., at which point Mastandrea drove alone to the home of Derek Griffith, her then-boyfriend and current husband, in Plymouth, according to police.

Griffith left the restaurant 15 minutes after Mastandrea in his own car, police said. He told police that when he got home, Mastandrea told him "she banged the front of her car on something while driving home."

Dexter's family waited nearly three months for charges to materialize, while more than 1,000 people joined a Facebook memorial page in support of bringing the killer to justice.


Family comforted
Yesterday, exactly three months after Andrew was killed, family members felt some comfort.

"I cried with relief when I heard the news and said 'Thank God, it's about time,'" said Sarah White, Andrew's mother. "I just want to thank the prosecutors and the police and the grand jury for doing the right thing."

Andrew's father said he was relieved the matter will be dealt with in Superior Court because now he can push for the maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

He said things could have been different if Mastandrea had simply "done the right thing" and turned herself in.

"If it was a legitimate accident, as much as it hurts, we'd understand because if someone says they're sorry and it's heartfelt, we could learn to forgive," Dexter Sr. said. "It would be easier to handle knowing someone actually felt bad for hurting our family."