A Malden man spent an evening socializing with Angel Acevedo and Jenret Appleberry in their Chelsea home before shooting them to death in cold blood on Labor Day, a Suffolk County homicide prosecutor said as he was formally charged with their murders.

In addition to two counts of first-degree murder, STEVEN ANDRE (D.O.B. 5/5/88) is charged with single counts of assault with a dangerous weapon for brandishing a gun at a third victim who was unharmed, armed robbery, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Assistant District Attorney John Pappas recommended that Andre be held without bail pending trial; Suffolk Superior Court Clerk Magistrate Gary D. Wilson granted that request.

Pappas also noted that Andre had recently completed a jail term on gun charges at the time of the homicides and was serving five years of probation. Andre is currently serving a one- to three-year prison sentence for violating the conditions of that probation.

Pappas told the court that Andre knew the 25- and 26-year-old victims and was socializing with them at their Chester Avenue home on the evening of Sept. 5, 2010, into the early morning hours of Sept. 6. A third man – a roommate of the homicide victims – was also home that night and, with his young son, later went to sleep.

“As the roommate slept,” Pappas said, “the defendant, without warning, without provocation and without justification or excuse, shot Angel Acevedo and Jenret Appleberry.”

Appleberry suffered gunshot wounds to his right cheek and side of the head; Acevedo was shot to the right and center of his neck. Pappas told the court that investigators believe that at least one of the victims was asleep when he was shot.

The roommate, who was awoken by the sound of gunshots, was hiding in his bedroom with his young son when the defendant entered. Andre led him to the living room, where the roommate “observed his two roommates bleeding” and “presumed they were dead since neither was moving.”

The defendant then “methodically made his way through the apartment in search of money,” Pappas said. “During this time, he made multiple statements taking responsibility for Acevedo’s and Appleberry’s deaths, claiming he was paid a substantial sum of money to kill them.”

Pappas said Andre eventually let the third man leave the residence with his young child.

After searching the apartment, Pappas said, Andre took various items of the victims’ personal property, including a wristwatch and Sony Playstation gaming console. Those items were later recovered from the defendant’s Malden apartment, Pappas said, and evidence links them to the scene: the watch can be seen on Appleberry’s wrist in photos taken just before the murders and the Playstation’s account registration information was unique to the same slain man.

Based on witness statements, evidence recovered from the crime scene and the defendant’s home, and other evidence gathered in the days following the homicides, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley approved a warrant for Andre’s arrest. Chelsea Police and State Police homicide detectives took Andre into custody on Sept. 13.

Catherine Rodriguez is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Andre was represented by attorney Stephen Weymouth. He is expected to return to court on March 8.