Grim details emerge on death of Henry Tapia, Black man killed in road rage incident; Suspect called him racial slur as fight was deescalating, police say
Updated Jan 26, 2021;
Posted Jan 26, 2021
Henry Tapia, a 34-year-old Boston man, was run over by a pickup truck last week and fatally wounded. He is pictured here. A Hudson man is now facing a murder charge as well as a civil rights violation in connection with the killing of Tapia. Authorities claim the suspect called Tapia a racial slur and then ran him over with the truck during a road rage incident. A GoFundMe page has raised more than $150,000 for Tapia s loved ones in the days after the killing. (Danny Garcia/GoFundMe)
The man who allegedly struck and killed Henry Tapia in Belmont last week is now facing a murder charge.
On Monday, 54-year-old Dean Kapsalis, of Hudson, was arraigned on new charges, virtually, in Cambridge District Court. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Belmont police chief James McIsaac confirmed that the defendant is facing charges of murder and leaving the scene causing death.
Earlier, Kapsalis was initially charged with a civil rights violation causing injury, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, and leaving the scene of a crash.
Police say Kapsalis ran over Tapia with his truck after the two got into an argument in which Kapsalis, who is white, shouted racist slurs at Tapia, who was Black and Latino.
Massachusetts man accused of killing Black man in ‘road rage’ incident in Belmont now facing murder charge; Suspect yelled racial slurs at victim, officials say
Updated Jan 26, 2021;
The Massachusetts man accused of yelling racial slurs at a Black man during what authorities called a “road rage” incident in Belmont is now facing a murder charge after authorities say he fatally struck the victim with his truck during the incident.
Authorities from the Middlesex District Attorney’s office said 54-year-old Dean Kapsalis of Hudson was charged with murder in the killing of 34-year-old Henry Tapia.
Kapsalis was originally charged last week with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, a civil rights violation causing injury and leaving the scene of an accident causing personal injury in connection with the Jan. 19 killing of Tapia, according to district attorney’s office.
Wicked Local
Henry Tapia of Boston, who was struck and killed by a vehicle last week in what is being called a hate crime, was remembered in a vigil by Community Organized for Solidarity on Jan. 21.
Hundreds gathered on Common Street in Cushing Square between Trapelo and Payson Roads holding Black Lives Matter signs and photos of Tapia, who was 35 when he was struck by a car operated by 54-year-old Dean Kapsalis of Hudson at around 4:22 p.m. on Jan. 19 on Upland Road in Belmont. Tapia was conscious when emergency workers first arrived, but he later died at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
The driver who allegedly used a racial slur before driving his pickup truck into Henry O. Tapia on a Belmont street last week was charged Monday with murder.
Dean S. Kapsalis, 54, had previously been charged with civil rights violations and assault and battery following the incident on Upland Road last Tuesday that killed Tapia, a 34-year-old Black and Latino man.
In Cambridge District Court Monday, Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Nicole Allain said that the state medical examiner concluded Tapia was fatally injured when he was struck by the pickup truck Kapsalis was driving when he slammed into Tapia, who was standing outside his own car after 4 p.m.