Man Who Allegedly Killed Cousin Over Loud Music Held Without Bail

NEW BEDFORD — The suspect arrested in connection to the stabbing death of his 47-year-old cousin over loud music has been ordered held without bail Friday morning.

New Bedford Third District Court has ordered 51-year-old James Andrews to be held without bail on murder charges for the stabbing death of 47-year-old Allan A. Monteiro Sr.  Authorities have also charged Andrews for failing to register as a sex offender.

Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III is leading the prosecution in the case and says that Andrews allegedly stabbed Monteiro repeatedly in the chest and killed him as the result of an argument between the two over loud music.

“Unfortunately this is another case that involves a senseless killing. It apparently involves family members. The victim was stabbed to death, allegedly, by the defendant, who has a significant criminal history including several crimes of violence,” said District Attorney Quinn. “He’s going to be off the streets because he’s accused of murdering somebody and stabbing somebody to death in a very violent way, so he should be off the streets for what he’s accused of.”

Prosecutors say that New Bedford Police responded to the apartment, located at 345 Cottage Street in the city’s west end, at 5:25 a.m. to emergency calls reporting a stabbing.  Authorities found Monteiro dead upon arrival. The building is a two-family residence with the second and third floors connected, creating one large apartment. The victim’s cousin, 43-year-old Alana Monteiro, rents the apartment and resides on the second and third floors with her immediate family.

Authorities say that Allan Monteiro and his family were visiting Alana Monteiro for the summer as they normally live in Hyannis.  It was reported that Andrews, a distant cousin of the Monteiro’s, had also been staying at the apartment for the past week.

Alana Monteiro was in contact with Andrews through multiple phone calls and text messages, with Alana pleading for him to turn himself in and Andrews apologizing for stabbing her brother.  In one phone call, Andrews stated that “he (Monteiro) had a metal pipe and he swung at me and I lost it and stabbed him, I’m sorry I’m sorry he (Monteiro) is upstairs bleeding.”

In other texts from Andrews to Alana Monteiro, Andrews said “I said i would i will just walking n thinking as i said im sorry i was defending myself he came in swinging a pipe n hitting me i swear i didn’t hear the baby i didnt but as i said i will go to police station,” and “ I wasnt tryn to hurt anyone i was defending myself thats all i was doing.”

The known Facebook account belonging to Andrews, under the name Jim Jim Ribeiro, began to make suicidal statements in posts at around 8:20 a.m., saying “With a heavy heart i say goodbye to all the ultimate mistake was made today n no words will make it better or change what was done i ask for only understanding n peace to all involved i truly tried to be the best me yet i failed myself and family and all again goodbye all n love each other.”

Investigators conducted interviews with multiple individuals who were at the Cottage Street residence during the time of the incident. Authorities were able to construct summary of events following an interview with the victim’s daughter, 23-year-old Ciara Monteiro.

According to Ciara Monteiro’s account of the incident, prosecutors say that Andrews was staying in the third floor of the apartment along with numerous individuals in the early hours of Thursday morning. According to Ciara, Andrews was playing loud music from his phone which began to wake up a baby residing in the building.  Ciara attempted to get Andrews to turn the music down but was ultimately unsuccessful.

Ciara then notified her father, Allan Monteiro, of the excessive noise, who then began to pull back the curtain separating the area on the third floor where Andrews was staying. It was at this point that a verbal confrontation between the two grew into that of a physical altercation. Ciara told authorities she saw Andrews get up from his chair, to which Monteiro stated “You don’t want this.” Ciara then grabbed the baby from its crib and went to a backroom to avoid any harm.

The report goes on to say that while in the backroom area, Ciara looked back and saw her father lying motionless on the ground with Andrews standing over him while hearing someone gasp for air. Ciara then says that she heard Andrews say “Damn” or “oh damn” before closing the door and hiding with two other occupants of the building, Jaylene Rodriguez and Isiah Robertson.  Interviews conducted with Rodriguez and Robertson corroborated with Ciara’s account of events, with Rodriguez adding that she saw Andrews with a large knife in his hand while standing over a bleeding Monteiro. Rodriguez also says that Andrews was wearing no shirt and only blue boxers at the time.

While the investigation was being conducted, authorities in search of Andrews were able to ping his cellphone to the New Bedford area, with the last pings on the phone centralized to the north end in the area of Hathaway Boulevard, Ashley Boulevard, and Tarklin Hill Road. Prosecutors say that while searching for Andrews, authorities were able to contact and speak with him over the phone. Sergeant Robert Plante spoke to Andrews, who admitted that the incident had started over loud music. Andrews then told the officer that he was being hit with a pipe and that he “lost it”, claiming self-defense.

Investigators apprehended Andrews at the Tedeschi’s on Ashley Boulevard at about 1:15 p.m. and took him into custody. During a swabbing and screening of his hands, both of Andrews’ hands tested positive for blood. Police also found a red Husky brand box cutter, believed to belong to Andrews, at the scene that tested positive for blood. Investigators also discovered blood spatter on the ceiling, walls, and third floor landing.

James Andrews has a lengthy and violent criminal record dating back to 1988. He has several prior convictions including leaving scene of a crime, property damage, and domestic abuse. Andrews is a level three sex offender for a 1992 charge of indecent assault on a minor under the age of 14. He was due to check in and register in June and is also being charged with failure to register as a sex offender.

“The most recent conviction was a very violent assault of a woman, a domestic violence case, where he was believed to have kicked a woman in the eye and broke her nose and orbital bone. He received a substantial sentence for that. I think unfortunately he is out and has not learned,” Quinn said. “It’s an example of an individual with a significant criminal history of violence and other offenses going back the early 90’s, whose accused of stabbing someone to death at the age of 51 because he’s alleged to have been playing loud music.”

James Andrews is due back in Third District Court on September 30th.