The Massachusetts man convicted in the racially motivated road rage killing of a man on a Belmont street three years ago was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday.
Dean Kapsalis was convicted in May of racially motivated murder over a Jan. 19, 2021 road rage confrontation in which he shouted racial slurs at Henry Tapia before hitting the man with his truck, killing him. Kapsalis will be eligible for parole after 15 years.
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Kapsalis — a Hudson man with a lengthy history of violations behind the wheel — sat emotionless as he heard his sentence in Middlesex Superior Court. He also apologized to Tapia's family.
Tapia was 35 and left behind a fiancée and children.
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"The apology didn't sound that sincere but eventually we can find it in our hearts to forgive him," said Tapia's cousin, Raul Felipe. "But it’s going to be a long process."
Tapia was Black and Kapsalis is white. After their initial argument subsided, prosecutors have said, Kapsalis "turned and hurled a horrific racial slur" at Tapia before getting in his pickup truck and running him down.
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.
The incident sparked outrage. Several hundred people gathered in Belmont to mourn Tapia's death.
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.
