Adamopoulos’ death stunned and saddened his Ludlow and the area’s basketball community, where he was known as a precocious player.
These warning signs were posted at Norwich Lake in Huntington last year where a 10-year-old Gus Adamopoulos, of Ludlow, was killed in a boating accident.NORTHAMPTON – A Westfield man who is already facing manslaughter and homicide charges in connection with the boating death of a 10-year-old Ludlow boy has been indicted by a Hampshire County grand jury on new charges related to the incident.
According to prosecutors, Steven J. Morse, 37, of 65 Deborah Lane rammed his speedboat into a kayak on Norwich Lake in Huntington on Aug. 17, 2010, killing Augustus Adamopoulos, 10, and injuring the boy’s father, James Adamopoulos. Bystanders brought the father and son ashore immediately and attempted to administer first aid, but “Gus” Adamopoulos could not be revived.
Although prosecutors say they have evidence that Morse ingested alcohol and marijuana prior to operating the boat, his lawyer has cited police reports that indicate Morse did not appear intoxicated. Morse has pleaded innocent to manslaughter, homicide by vessel and homicide by vessel while under the influrence of alcohol.
Augustus AdamopoulosThis week, a grand jury indicted Morse on the additional counts of operating a vessel while under the influence of alcohol causing serious bodily injury, intimidation of a witness and three counts of child endangerment while operating a vessel under the influence of alcohol. The indictment names three boys under the age of 14 who were apparently the passenger’s in Morse’s boat. According to Northwestern First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne, one of the boys is the son of the boat’s owner, who was being towed on water skies by Morse at the time of the crash. The other two boys are family friends.
The new indictments come seven months after the original ones brought during the tenure of Elizabeth D. Scheibel, the previous Northwestern District Attorney. Gagne said David E. Sullivan, her successor, sought the additional charges after a review of the case.
“We reviewed the entire case as we have done with every other prosecution that we assumed control of in January and we determined that the evidence supported these additional charges,” Gagne said.
Adamopoulos’ death stunned and saddened his Ludlow and the area’s basketball community, where he was known as a precocious player. He was also an avid golfer, winning an age-division champion at golf tournaments sponsored by The Republican - The Republican Junior and its Hole-in-One Contest. He won an age 10-12 division tournament at Ledges Golf Course on the morning of his passing.
Veterans Park Elementary School in Ludlow, which Adamopoulos attended, raised money to dedicate a bench in his honor at the school’s outdoor basketball court.