What Happened?

On May 15, 1993, Joseph Matteucci, a seventeen year old junior attending Castro Valley High School, went to a game to pick up his friend who was pitching a baseball game in the Big League Division of Little League Baseball.

Joseph was not playing in the game that day. In fact, he had only arrived in time to watch the last inning of the game. What Joe did not know is that during the game two spectators had decided to distract the catcher of the opposing team by trash talking. The insults escalated into racial remarks, not only directed at the catcher, but also to other players as they came to bat.

The game ended with the opposing team losing by one run. The catcher, angry and frustrated, made a vow to "settle the score." He approached the spectators who were name calling during the game. Stripping off his jersey, picking up a bat, and walking toward one of the hecklers he said, "I'm going to kill you." He swung the bat, fueled by anger and frustration. The boy he intended to hit moved out of the way and the bat hit Joseph in the back of the head, crushing his brain stem.

Joseph, just a few weeks short of his seventeenth birthday, never regained consciousness. Joseph donated his organs, giving the gift of life to others.

Joseph was the only child of Alexandra Matteucci and, since his death, she has dedicated her life to creating and funding nonviolence programs for youth. She continues to discuss youth violence issues with students in middle schools, high schools, juvenile detention centers, second chance programs, colleges and county jails. She speaks about these issues and shares her personal story of the loss of her son to violence.