GRAND JURY INDICTS 23-YEAR-OLD CAPE MAN ON MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES AFTER DEATH OF HIS 71-YEAR-OLD MOTHER, DA SAYS…

[Media statement from the office of Cape & Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois] Cape & Islands District Attorney Robert J. Galibois today announced that on March 21, 2025, a Grand Jury indicted Thomas Hayes, 23 years old, of Sandwich, MA, for his role relating to the death of a 71-year-old woman, occurring in July 2024, in the town of Sandwich. A Barnstable Grand Jury returned 2 indictments against the defendant Thomas Hayes, charging him with Manslaughter, and Assault and Battery on Person +60 or disabled Serious Bodily with Injury. In the late hours of July 24, 2024, EMTs and law enforcement responded to a 911 call from a private residence in the town of Sandwich, upon arrival first responders and police located an unconscious 71-year-old female on the ground in the second-floor bedroom, bleeding from a laceration to her head. The investigation revelated that the female victim was the mother of defendant Thomas Hayes. The defendant told the 911 operator and law enforcement that he had pushed the 71-year-old unconscious female, and that she had fallen to the floor. The 71-year-old female was taken to Cape Cod Hospital. In addition to the laceration to her head, she suffered a broken neck. The 71-year-old female died at Cape Cod Hospital on July 30, 2024. At the time of this incident the defendant was on probation out of the Barnstable District Court. As a result of this investigation the defendant was sentenced to 1 year at the Barnstable House of Correction for violating his probation. The defendant will be arraigned on a future date in the Barnstable Superior Court. This case was investigated by the Sandwich Police Department and the MA State Police Detectives Unit assigned to the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant District Courtney Leigh Scalice, Chief of the Child Abuse and Vulnerable Victims Unit. The Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office reiterates that all defendants are presumed innocent. [The above is the DA’s media statement.  No further details available at this time.] ###