A Massachusetts man was convicted in the racially motivated killing of another man two years ago in Belmont, prosecutors said Monday.
Dean Kapsalis had been accused of shouting racial slurs during a road rage incident in January 2021 and was charged with racially motivated murder. He also faced motor vehicle and civil rights charges, and Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said he was found guilty Monday.
"This was a racially motivated, senseless tragedy," Ryan said at a news conference in Belmont.
Kapsalis -- a Hudson man with a lengthy history of violations behind the wheel -- hit Henry Tapia, who was Black, with his Dodge Dakota truck on Jan. 19 after "what had begun as a simple argument about whether or not a blinker was being used in traffic," Ryan said.
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Then, after the yelling had subsided from both men, Kapsalis "turned and hurled a horrific racial slur" at Tapia before getting in his pickup truck and running him down. Tapia 35 and left behind a fiancée and children.
Ryan noted that one of the last things Tapia heard was words "meant to intimidate and threaten him," ones that "make people who live in our communities wonder if they belong here." She said her office makes a point to bring specific charges in cases involving hate crimes, not use them as background for other charges.
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"We will charge those separately, prosecute that crime separately and seek accountability for that piece of what happened," Ryan said.
The incident sparked outrage. Several hundred people gathered in Belmont to mourn Tapia's death.
Tapia's uncle, Juan Filipe, said at the time that the racism made the crime even more horrific.
"It makes it worse. It makes it worse," Filipe said. "You don't feel safe with that kind of people walking the streets."
Belmont police found Tapia on Upland Road near the driver’s side of his car, a Honda Civic, with life-threatening injuries around 4:22 p.m. after receiving a 911 call. First responders tried to stabilize the man and took him to an area hospital, where he later died from his injuries, police said.
Kapsalis was accused of fleeing the scene before returning to the Belmont Police Department about a half an hour later to turn himself in.
Kapsalis' list of driving infractions dates back to 1984, including seven crashes and 18 speeding tickets, according to Registry of Motor Vehicles records found by the NBC10 Investigators. They also show his license has been suspended 10 times.
