BELMONT — A white driver was convicted of second-degree murder and civil rights violations Monday for intentionally running over a Black and Latino man in Belmont during a racially motivated attack two years ago that “began as a simple argument about whether or not a blinker was being used in traffic” and escalated into “a horrific racial insult,” prosecutors said.
After a three-week trial and four days of deliberations, a Middlesex Superior Court jury found Dean Kapsalis, 56, guilty of charges related to the Jan. 19, 2021, hit-and-run crash that killed Henry Tapia, a 34-year-old father of three.
“What is significant about today’s verdict is that in Middlesex County, when we have violent incidents that are motivated by hate and bigotry, those will not be seen as just background facts,” Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan said at a news conference at the Belmont Police Department. “We will charge those separately, prosecute that crime separately, and seek accountability for that piece of what happened.”
Tapia was killed after he and Kapsalis got into a yelling match on Upland Road shortly after 4 p.m., Ryan said. As the incident wound down, the men headed back to their vehicles. That’s when Kapsalis turned and “hurled a horrifical racial insult” at Tapia, got into his Dodge Dakota pickup truck, and deliberately ran Tapia over, Ryan said.
Sadly, “some of the last words [Tapia] heard on this Earth . . . were meant to intimidate and threaten him because of who he was, a person of color,” Ryan said.
Not only did Tapia “senselessly” lose his life, leaving his family grieving, Ryan said, “but we also have the impact that these crimes have had on communities. They tear at the fabric of communities, and they make people who live in our communities wonder if they belong here.”
“It is our hope that this verdict today gives us a resounding answer to that question,” Ryan said. “That people, everyone, belongs in our communities.”
Belmont police Chief James MacIsaac said his “heart goes out to” Tapia’s family.
“This hate crime will forever be a part of Belmont’s history,” MacIsaac said. “But courageous witnesses came forward and demonstrated that hate will not be tolerated here. With hard work and cooperation, hate will never define the residents of Belmont.”
Jurors convicted Kapsalis of second-degree murder, violation of constitutional rights causing serious bodily injury, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon [the truck], and recklessly leaving the scene of an accident.
Judge David Deakin scheduled a June 27 sentencing date for Kapsalis, who faces life in prison for the murder conviction, with the possibility of parole in 15 to 25 years. The judge will set his parole eligibility date.
According to prosecutors, investigators spoke with Upland Road residents after Tapia was killed and recovered video from a home surveillance camera that captured some of the exchange between Kapsalis and Tapia. Kapsalis was living with his girlfriend on Upland Road when, according to witnesses, Tapia pulled over and got out of his Honda Civic during the argument.
The argument “appeared to be de-escalating and settling down when witnesses heard the defendant curse at the victim, and the defendant then called him the n-word,” prosecutor Nicole Lynn Allain told the court after Kapsalis’s arrest two years ago.
Tapia, she said, responded by asking Kapsalis: “What did you say to me? Do you want to say that again?”
Kapsalis then drove the pickup directly into Tapia, who fell underneath the vehicle after being struck. “Witnesses said the defendant accelerated in the truck and drove it straight towards the victim,” Allain said.
Tapia, a family man obsessed with gaming, had been on his way home from his highway construction job. He was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he died of his injuries.
After the verdict, Kapsalis’s attorney, John Cunha Jr., said his client “said a horrible thing, but it wasn’t a hate crime.”
He said the defense had argued at trial that Kapsalis drove onto the sidewalk to try to avoid Tapia, who jumped onto the hood of the truck and was killed when he fell underneath the vehicle.
“Apparently what happened after that led the jury to make its findings, and we’ll appeal,” Cunha said. He said jurors found Kapsalis was not guilty of intentionally leaving the scene of the accident but was guilty of the lesser offense of recklessly leaving the scene.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez. Shelley Murphy can be reached at shelley.murphy@globe.com. Follow her @shelleymurph.