Second Person Indicted In Death Of Tewksbury Teen Who Died At Underage Drinking Party In Lowell

LOWELL, MA -- The Middlesex District Attorney's Office charged Thomas Ogden, 51, of Lowell, with giving alcohol to minors for allowing underage teenagers at his residence at an October 2016 party where 15-year-old Ethan Costello, of Tewksbury, died after an altercation with another Tewksbury teen. The D.A.'s office had previously indicted Joseph Zagarella, 19, of Tewksbury, on charges of manslaughter and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

The charges against Zagarella were changed to manslaughter last week after a long-delayed report from the State Medical Examiner's Office was finally completed and confirmed Costello's death as a homicide. As of Tuesday afternoon, an arraignment date had not been scheduled for Zagarella or Ogden.

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Zagarella had been scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday. Last month, a Lowell District Court judge denied the district attorney's office's motion to delay the trial because of delays in obtaining the autopsy report from the state medical examiner. Without the report, prosecutors had reduced charges against Zagarella to assault.

Federal standards call for medical examiners to deliver autopsy reports in a timely fashion, the national standard being 90 days. The Massachusetts Office of the State Medical Examiner had attributed the delay in the Costello autopsy on a heavy caseload and not enough employees to process a growing backlog.

More than 75 teens, most of them from Tewksbury, attended the party at Ogden's private residence in the Belvedere neighborhood of Lowell last October 28. According to witnesses, Costello was intoxicated and bumped into the bigger Zagarella, who grabbed Costello by the neck and slammed him onto a concrete floor.

Prosecutors allege Zagarella bragged about the assault as he left the party and initially lied to police when questioned. There was as much as a two-hour delay in getting Costello medical treatment, and no one at the party called emergency services, according to an investigator's report.

One witness said Ogden refused to help even as Costello was vomiting blood. Ogden told police his child had some friends over but denied having any knowledge of alcohol consumption, according to the investigator's report.

The witness and some friends then tried to revive Costello in a shower before driving him to the emergency room at Lowell General Hospital. Costello, whose injuries were described as "grave" when hospital officials called police, died of his injuries after being transported to Tufts Floating Hospital in Boston.

Patch file photo of Ethan Costello.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).