Judge: Man shot his father to death in Woonsocket in self defense

PROVIDENCE – A judge on Tuesday acquitted a 24-year-old man of murder, finding that he shot his father to death in April 2021 while defending himself from alcohol- and cocaine-fueled attack.

Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Procaccini ruled that Alex Cote faced imminent danger of death or seriously bodily harm when he killed his father, 43-year-old Adam Castonguay, with a single shot to the chest as Castonguay gripped his neck early on April 15, 2021, in Woonsocket.

Procaccini found Cote not guilty of murder and firearms charges, while convicting him of carrying without a license the .22-caliber Ruger he fired.

Cote’s grandmother, who raised Cote, and other family members whooped and clapped as the judge delivered the verdict. Cote wept.

“I’m happy my grandson’s coming home … My grandson never would have done something like that,” if not in fear of his life, Claire Roody said on the steps of the Licht Judicial Complex.

His cousin, Amanda Gomes, looked to the skies.

“God amazed me again … I can’t wait for him to see my kids,” Gomes said.

Alex Cote's family history

Procaccini laid out the painful circumstances of Cote’s life and his father’s death in delivering the findings based on a five-day bench trial last month.

Cote’s parents had abandoned him to be raised by relatives due to their substance abuse. He dropped out of high school and at age 15 began working to rekindle his relationship with Castonguay, a lifelong user of powdered and crack cocaine who drank vodka daily.

By age 19, Cote was visiting his father on a weekly basis at Castonguay’s girlfriend’s apartment at the Plaza Village complex, 41 Village Rd., in Woonsocket.

April 14, 2021, started out as a typical day, with the father and son rising late after a night of drinking. Castonguay ate dinner with his girlfriend, Holly Gill, and her son, and continued to drink throughout the night as Cote joined them and the group toasted s’mores over the fire.

Gill and her son went to bed, but awakened around midnight to hear Castonguay and Cote arguing “about life issues.” She warned them repeatedly to stop or she'd call the police. Castonguay was pacing, a signal he was “really mad.”

Castonguay, who had a history of violence and threats, told her to “`shut the [expletive] up,’” according to Cote’s testimony.

Castonguay moved toward Cote and punched him in the head, flattening him back onto the couch. He then lunged, wrapped his hands around Cote’s neck in a rage and screamed "'I’m gonna kill you, [expletive,]’” Procaccini said, quoting testimony at trial.

Cote grabbed his father’s genitals, to no avail, before removing the gun from his pocket and firing it once without looking. He panicked and fled before being placed under arrest by Woonsocket Police.

Procaccini concluded Tuesday that the prosecutors Meghan E. McDonough and Leslie Lloyd Mullings Ocean failed to meet the state’s burden of disproving that Cote shot his father in self defense. He rejected arguments that Cote had no injuries following the confrontation, finding instead that the detective’s observations were made after mere glances at Cote, whose face and neck were covered by a beard in mug shots.

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In addition, the judge found that evidence had shown Castonguay’s proclivity for violence against his girlfriends, particularly after drinking, and long history of substance abuse. The autopsy revealed, too, that Castonguay’s blood alcohol content was .139 and that he had used cocaine hours before his death.

Cote had purchased the gun months earlier due to an ongoing dispute with another man, the judge said.

Cote remains held at the Adult Correctional Institutions, with a hearing set for Monday on the remaining gun charge.

“I want to thank the judge for his careful, thoughtful consideration of this long and difficult trial,” Cote’s lawyer, Craig V. Montecalvo, said.

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Alex Cote killed father in self-defense, judge rules not guilty