Swampscott woman serving time commits suicide

FRAMINGHAM – A former Swampscott woman who was serving time for a 10-day crime spree on the North Shore in January 2008 hanged herself in her prison cell.Christina M. Morando, 22, who last lived at 41 Harrison Ave., Woburn hanged herself in her cell at MCI-Framingham on Monday.Two other inmates were hospitalized after they also attempted suicide, according to published reports.Morando was sentenced to a year in prison last January for her involvement in a string of robberies on the North Shore. The sentence imposed was to be served concurrently with a two-to-six year sentence she was already serving on similar crimes out of Middlesex County. She was eligible for parole on May 9, 2010.According to previous stories in The Daily Item, Morando pleaded guilty in Salem Superior Court to three charges of armed robbery while masked and a single count of armed assault with intent to rob before Judge John T. Lu.Assistant District Attorney Kristen R. Buxton said Morando was dating Michael R. Reed and she assisted him in carrying out the robberies by being the look-out and driving the getaway car.On Jan. 9, 2008 Reed walked into Toomey’s Cleaners in Lynn wearing a hooded sweatshirt pulled tightly around his face to distort his appearance and pulled out a black gun from his right coat pocket, demanding cash from the 16-year-old female clerk. He ordered the clerk to lay on the floor as he smashed her cell phone and fled with an undetermined amount of cash from the register. In court, Morando admitted waiting in the car during the robbery.The couple also hit Beach Bluff Cleaners in Marblehead, Sizzle Tanning Salon in Saugus and Honey Dew Donuts on Western Avenue in Lynn.Calls to her Lynn attorney Frank J. Sanchez were not immediately returned on Wednesday but in court he said Reed introduced Morando to heroin and the robberies were to fuel their habit.