Two face charges for Lowell party where teen fatally hurt
A Tewksbury teen and a Lowell father both pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a wild underage party where a 15-yearold boy was fatally injured last fall in Lowell.
Joseph Zagarella, 19, who has been on house arrest under GPS monitoring, pleaded not guilty yesterday to manslaughter and assault and battery causing serious bodily injury in the death of Ethan Costello. A grand jury indicted Zagarella, and Thomas Ogden, 51, of Lowell, earlier this month.
Ogden, whose daughter asked him to throw a party for her friends, pleaded not guilty to furnishing alcohol to minors and was released on his own recognizance yesterday.
Prosecutors say on Oct. 28, 2016, an angry Zagarella picked up the much smaller Costello after the boy stumbled into him. Zagarella slammed Costello’s head on a concrete floor, fracturing his skull, prosecutors said.
“Mr. Zagarella picks him up, tosses him down to the ground such that, the back portion of his head hits directly into the concrete floor,” said prosecutor Tom Brant.
Costello died days later. Costello weighed 50 to 60 pounds less that Zagarella. The younger teen was drunk and Zagarella was not, Brant said.
Zagarella’s bail was set at $10,000 cash, which was already paid and will be transferred from district court funds, it was stated in open court. He was kept on GPS and house arrest.
Outside of court, Costello’s mother said, “We just want justice for Ethan.”
Brant said during the hearing, the underage drinking by 60 to 80 teens was obvious that night last fall, with alcoholic containers strewn about the property and numerous teens throwing up, he said.
After Costello was slammed on the concrete, he lay half-conscious on a couch. Some teens teased him, others threw water on him to revive him, Brant said.
He added some teens nudged Costello’s head with their feet.
Defense attorney Keren Goldenberg disputed that account. She said a Snapchat video was made showing teens kicking Costello.
Goldenberg acknowledged she has not seen and doesn’t possess the video.
“It seems that half the kids in Tewskbury saw that video. It was very widely known among the witnesses,” she said.
At one point, teens carrying Costello spoke with Ogden in his home, who complained about drunk teens and insisted they not lay Costello on a “new” couch, Brant said.