Hundreds gathered in Cushing Square in Belmont to honor the memory of Henry Tapia, two days after he had an altercation with a man who reportedly yelled racial slurs and then drove over him, ultimately killing Tapia. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
In an ideal world, 34-year-old Henry Tapia, a father of three, would have spent Thursday night playing video games with his friends or his kids.
Instead, this Thursday, Tapia s kids held a sign that read I miss my Dad! Mommy won t let me forget you! while dozens coped with the cold in Belmont s Cushing Square and sang Amazing Grace.
They gathered to hold a vigil for Tapia, a Black man, who witnesses say was run over and killed by Dean Kapsalis, who called Tapia the n-word.
Hundreds Gather In Belmont To Remember Henry Tapia And Decry Racial Hatred
A crowd gathered in Belmont s Cushing Square for a vigil for Henry Tapia.
Edgar B. Herwick III/
Hundreds gathered on a chilly Thursday evening in Belmontâs Cushing Square to speak out against racial hatred and remember Henry Tapia.
Tapia, a 35-year old black and Latino man, was killed in Belmont earlier this week after an apparent road rage incident. The suspect, Dean Kapsalis, allegedly hurled a racial slur before getting in his pickup truck and running Tapia over.
â[Tapia] was a beloved brother, a beloved son, a beloved father,â said Sarah Bilodeau, of the group
Police: Hudson man shouted racial slurs before driving into and killing father of 3
BELMONT - The Middlesex District Attorney s office has identified the Boston man who died following an alleged road rage confrontation with a Hudson man as Henry Tapia.
The district attorney said Dean Kapsalis, 54, faces charges that include a civil rights violation, after he allegedly struck and killed Tapia with his truck following a racially-charged roadside argument on Tuesday night.
District Attorney Marian Ryan and Belmont Chief of Police James MacIsaac confirmed Wednesday that Kapsalis had been arraigned in Cambridge District Court on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, a civil rights violation causing injury and leaving the scene of a personal injury accident.
Friends of Henry Tapia are mourning the loss of a man they describe as “nothing short of amazing.”
Tapia, 34, was struck by a car and died a short time after an alleged road rage incident on Upland Road in Belmont on Wednesday. The other man involved, 54-year-old Dean Kapsalis, of Hudson, allegedly shouted a racial slur at Tapia, who is Black, moments before allegedly striking him with the Dodge Dakota he was driving.
Kapsalis allegedly fled the scene as Tapia lay in the street with life-threatening injuries. Tapia was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he later died.
Kapsalis, meanwhile, is being charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (the vehicle), a civil rights violation causing injury, and leaving the scene of an accident causing personal injury, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan. Upgraded charges are possible as the investigation continues, she said Wednesday.
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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. TGIF!
POLLACK S NEW LANE President Joe Biden is filling his new administration with Massachusetts officials and experts, and leaving some big job openings here in the process.
As Gov. Charlie Baker put it yesterday, he s said goodbye to quite a few colleagues in the last several weeks the mayor of Boston, the governor of Rhode Island, two members of his medical advisory board, and now, one of his best-known cabinet secretaries.