A Massachusetts teenager has been indicted nearly a year after prosecutors say he killed a younger teen at an underage drinking party.
Joseph Zagarella of Tewksbury was 18 when authorities say he slammed the head of 15-year-old Ethan Costello, also from Tewksbury, into the concrete floor of a Lowell residence on Oct. 28, 2016. Three days later, on Halloween, Costello was pronounced dead at Tufts Medical Center.
Tuesday, a Middlesex County grand jury indicted Zagarella, now 19, on charges of manslaughter and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
The grand jury also indicted 51-year-old Thomas Ogden, a resident at the Boylston Street home where the attack took place, on a charge of furnishing alcohol to minors.
After the attack, prosecutors said Costello stumbled into Zagarella, who responded by picking up the younger teen and slamming him down. But Zagarella's attorney said there were conflicting accounts about what happened, including that the victim fell and hit his head.
On the day of Costello's death, a judge said Zagarella was not drunk at the time.
The 15 year old was a student at Tewksbury Memorial H.S. Students are grieving.@NECN pic.twitter.com/w0FFnKMb9f
— jonathan choe (@choeshow) October 31, 2016
Costello's mother told necn last year that she did not know there would be alcohol at the party. Her son was a student at Tewksbury Memorial High School.
