Boston, Sept. 23, 2014— A woman who refused to testify before the Suffolk County Grand Jury as it investigated a murder allegedly committed by a family member pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of court today, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

TANYA SINGLETON (D.O.B. 11/17/75) of Bristol, Connecticut, admitted that she refused to testify when called before the grand jury in September of 2013. Singleton had been granted an order of immunity that would have allowed her to testify regarding a vehicle that was used in the 2012 murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in Boston’s South End.

Singleton is the cousin of the defendant charged in that double murder. The vehicle was recovered from her home by police in June 2013.  Singleton admitted today that she refused to testify before the grand jury even though prosecutors had reason to believe she had material, relevant information regarding the vehicle and conversations with the murder defendant.

First Assistant District Attorney Patrick M. Haggan recommended the maximum penalty for criminal contempt, two and a half years in a house of correction.  Suffolk Superior Court Judge Thomas Connors imposed two years of home confinement.

“This defendant made a deliberate choice to stymie a double homicide investigation,” Conley said. “That choice wasn’t made out of fear or intimidation but to help her cousin get away with two cold-blooded murders. Through her actions, she contributed to the leading factor in unsolved homicides in this city: witnesses who know the truth but refuse to tell it. There’s only one appropriate consequence here, and that’s a substantial period of incarceration.”

Conley noted that Boston and Suffolk County lead the Commonwealth in using the state’s Witness Protection Fund to protect witnesses who may be afraid to come forward or testify.

“If you’re afraid, we can protect you,” he said. “But if you lie, dummy up, or refuse to tell the truth, we will charge you, indict you, and prosecute you.”

Singleton was represented by attorney E. Peter Parker.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.