Trial In Death Of Tewksbury Teen Scheduled For November

LOWELL, MA -- The trial of two men charged in connection to the October 2016 death of 15-year-old Ethan Costello is scheduled to begin in Lowell Superior Court on November 5. Motions in the case of Joseph Zagarella, 20, of Tewksbury and Thomas Ogden, 51, of Lowell, are scheduled to be heard on October 11. Zagarella was charged with manslaughter and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, while Ogden was charged with giving alcohol to minors after allowing underage teenagers at his residence on the night Costello died.

The charges against Zagarella were changed to manslaughter last October after a long-delayed report from the State Medical Examiner's Office was finally completed and confirmed Costello's death as a homicide. The previous 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.

More than 75 teens, most of them from Tewksbury, attended the party at Ogden's private residence in the Belvedere neighborhood of Lowell one October 28, 2016. 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.

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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).