Boston Globe
 January 29, 1991

 JURY ACQUITS 17-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN POISON DEATH OF FOSTER CHILD
 Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff 

 A Roxbury teen-ager found guilty of murder by a judge last year in part on 
 the basis of evidence brought forward by a Boston Herald reporter was 
 cleared of those same charges yesterday by a jury.

 The defendant, Christina Hill, 17, was accused of murder in the poisoning 
 death of 2-year-old Henry Gallop, one of two foster children who died in 
 the home of Hill's parents in 1987. The key piece of evidence used against 
 Hill was a confession she allegedly made in 1987 to a friend, Leslie 
 Limehouse, 19, formerly of Roxbury, according to authorities.

 Hill's alleged confession, as recounted by Limehouse, first surfaced in a 
 1989 Herald story by reporter Michelle Caruso.

 Caruso's story prompted the Suffolk County district attorney's office to 
 reopen its investigation and eventually led to Hill's indictment and her 
 jury- waived trial before Roxbury District Court Judge Gordon A. Martin 
 Jr. All the legal proceedings have been closed-door sessions because of 
 Hill's juvenile status.

 At the first trial, John H. Cunha Jr., Hill's attorney, called a witness 
 who raised questions about whether Limehouse falsely incriminated Hill out 
 of a sense of fear created by Caruso.

 The witness, Clara Kelley, 17, of Roxbury, a friend of both teen-agers, 
 testified that she was approached by Caruso at a time when the 
 investigation was stalled and coached about how to get Limehouse to 
 incriminate Hill, Cunha said in an interview with the Globe yesterday.

 Kelley testified that Caruso got her to call Limehouse in South Carolina, 
 where Limehouse had moved with her family, by saying that Kelley and 
 Limehouse were in trouble with the police and that Hill was blaming them 
 for Gallop's death, Cunha said in the interview.

 Authorities have said neither Kelley nor Limehouse was ever suspected in 
 the Gallop death. Cunha said yesterday that Caruso lied to Kelley, and 
 coached Kelley on what to say to Limehouse, to coerce statements from the 
 teen-agers.

 "Caruso was saying, 'You better give evidence against her or else you'll 
 be in trouble,' " said Cunha yesterday.

 Cunha called Caruso as a witness in the first trial, but Caruso refused to 
 testify under her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. 
 According to Kelley, Caruso tape-recorded the telephone conversation 
 between Kelley and Limehouse without getting their consent, an apparent 
 violation of state privacy laws, Cunha said.

 Limehouse testified at the first trial that Hill confessed to killing 
 Gallop, but other witnesses said Limehouse privately recanted and 
 expressed fear she would be prosecuted for perjury if she changed her 
 story under oath, Cunha said.

 Martin found Hill guilty of second-degree murder. Under the state's dual 
 trial system, Hill requested a jury trial.

 Cunha said yesterday that the jury deliberated less than 30 minutes before 
 acquitting Hill, who has been free on bail since charges were brought. The 
 jury trial lasted two weeks and included essentially the same testimony 
 from Limehouse and Kelley, he said. Caruso was not called in deference to 
 her earlier invocation of the Fifth Amendment.

 Caruso could not be reached for comment yesterday. She acknowledged in an 
 interview last year after the first trial that she was called as a witness 
 but declined to talk about her appearance or her role in bringing 
 Limehouse forward.

 Caruso, who took credit for making possible the prosecution in the Gallop 
 case, said at the time: "I did a job that I knew had to be done. I did it 
 the best way I knew how. . . . The bottom line is that the DA got his 
 witness and what I did or didn't do has got nothing to do with it."

 Caruso suggested competitors were trying to embarrass her out of anger or 
 jealousy.

 Andrew Costello, Herald city editor, declined comment on the case last 
 night.

 Gallop and 15-month-old Arron Johnson, both foster children, died in the 
 home of James and Rachel Hill within a three-month period in 1987. An 
 inquest conducted by Judge Charles T. Spurlock of Roxbury District Court 
 concluded the two foster children were poisoned but made no determination 
 on who was responsible.

 Paul K. Leary, Suffolk County first assistant district attorney, said the 
 case is now over "unless some new evidence comes to light."