Road Rage Suspect Convicted of Murder After Killing, Yelling Racial Slurs At Black Victim

Dean Kapsalis was convicted of murder and other offenses for yelling racial slurs and killing Henry Tapia, a Black man. Reports say Kapsalis hit Tapia with his pickup after a road rage encounter in 2021.

On January 19, 2021, Dean Kapsalis, 56, and Henry Tapia, 34, reportedly got into an argument about whether or not a blinker was being used in traffic. During the road rage encounter in Belmont, Massachusetts, investigators discovered that Kapsalis yelled racial slurs at the Black man before getting in his Dodge Dakota pickup truck and running over him.

An article in AP News states that despite being transported to a hospital, Tapia died there and left his fiancée and children behind. On the contrary, Kapsalis argued at a trial that Tapia’s death was an accident during the road rage encounter.

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Charges Faced by Road Rage Suspect

According to an article in NBC Boston, on May 1, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office stated that the road rage suspect was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder for the racially motivated death of Tapia. In addition, District Attorney Marian Ryan announced at a news conference that Kapsalis also faced charges of violation of constitutional rights and other offenses such as for motor vehicles.

Furthermore, Ryan added that the road rage suspect had a history of violations while driving. Unfortunately, Ryan stated, the death of Tapia was fueled by anger and hate. Even some of the last words the victim he heard were racial slurs that intended to threaten him because of the color of his skin.

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