The trial of two men charged with murdering a rival and an innocent bystander during a shootout near a Dorchester restaurant began with opening statements today.

“When the smoke cleared, Assistant District Attorney John Pappas told a Suffolk Superior Court jury, “two men shared one semiautomatic handgun and they were responsible for a spasm of violence that left two men dead.”

EMMANUEL PINA a.k.a. EMMANUEL DePINA (D.O.B. 4/25/83) and SANDRO TAVARES (D.O.B. 12/25/83), both of Dorchester, are charged with two counts of first-degree murder each, reflecting the Aug. 2, 2009, shooting deaths of Manuel Monteiro, 47, and Jovany Eason, 20, in the area around Ka’Carlos Bar and Grill, where Monteiro worked as a cook and Eason was a patron.

“The owner of Ka’Carlos, he lost everything that night,” Pappas said of the man whose restaurant closed for good in the aftermath of the double homicide. “But the damage inflicted on his livelihood pales in comparison to the carnage inflicted on Manuel Monteiro and Jovany Eason.”

Pappas told the 16 jurors that Tavares and Pina arrived at the restaurant shortly after 12:30 that morning. Tavares went inside while Pina waited outside. An argument between Tavares and Eason ensued, with Pina coming into the restaurant and Tavares leaving. The argument continued in the men’s room, from which Monteiro and other restaurant employees later physically removed Pina and escorted him outside. At that point, Pappas said, Tavares was “lurking” outside the establishment.

Eason later left the restaurant and approached his car outside. Tavares, Pappas said, produced and “brandished” a semiautomatic handgun at him.

“Emmanuel Pina took that semiautomatic handgun and Sandro Tavares gave him that gun,” Pappas said. “Emmanuel Pina fired. Directly in his line of fire, as fate would have it, after acting as a peacekeeper, was Manuel Monteiro.”

Monteiro was standing inside the restaurant and looking outside at the confrontation. Pappas said he was shot in the chest by a bullet Pina fired at Eason. Pina continued to chase Eason down “as Jovany Eason literally ran for his life,” Pappas said. Eason was struck in the back by a bullet that went on to penetrate his heart, Pappas said. He, too, died of his injuries.

“Following Mr. Pina as he pursued his prey was Sandro Tavares, making sure the job was done,” Pappas said. “Two men, one gun. Two men acting as a team, in tandem.”

Catherine Rodriguez is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Pina is represented by attorney James Budreau and Tavares by attorney John Moss. Prosecution testinmony is ongoing.