Thomas Junta was an American

hockey dad Hockey Dad is an Australian surf rock band from Windang, New South Wales, Australia. The band consists of two members, drummer Billy Fleming and vocalist and guitarist Zach Stephenson. History The band was founded in 2013, although the member ...

from

Reading, Massachusetts Reading ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, north of central Boston. The population was 25,518 at the 2020 census. History Settlement and American independence Many of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's original settler ...

who was convicted of

involuntary manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th c ...

in 2002 after his attack on Michael Costin led to Costin's death. Costin was the informal referee of a

pick-up hockey Shinny (also shinney, pick-up hockey, pond hockey, or "outdoor puck") is an informal type of hockey played on ice. It is also used as another term for street hockey. There are no formal rules or specific positions, and often, there are no goalte ...

game involving the men's sons. The attack and the fight which ensued was witnessed by about a dozen children, including Junta's son and Costin's three sons. Junta was originally charged with

voluntary manslaughter Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender acted during ''the heat of passion'', under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed to the point that they cannot ...

. The jury acquitted him on this charge, instead convicting him of involuntary manslaughter, a lesser offense, on the basis of his claim of self-defense. Judge Charles Grabau sentenced Junta to incarceration for six to ten years. In April 2008, Junta was denied parole for the second time. In denying his request, the Massachusetts

Parole Board A parole board is a panel of people who decide whether an offender should be released from prison on parole after serving at least a minimum portion of their sentence as prescribed by the sentencing judge. Parole boards are used in many jurisdiction ...

said that "Junta had failed to fully accept responsibility for his actions". Junta was eventually released on August 27, 2010. He died on December 16, 2020 after a battle with cancer.

References

External links

Court TV coverage of Thomas Junta, the hockey dad convicted of manslaughter
USNewsLink, Judith Haney, 2002 Year of birth missing 20th-century births 2020 deaths American people convicted of manslaughter Place of birth missing Prisoners and detainees of Massachusetts People from Reading, Massachusetts Ice hockey people from Massachusetts {{US-crime-bio-stub