Holyoke candidate with extensive criminal history ‘fighting to get black cloud off of my back’
HOLYOKE — With Ward 4 City Councilor Kocayne S. Givner stepping down, Holyoke voters face a choice between Richard Purcell, a community activist, and Peter Diaz Jr., a newcomer who says he's turned his life around since serving time in prison.
Givner announced she would not seek reelection to focus on other civic efforts.
"The reasons I ran have been fulfilled," she said.
She has endorsed Richard Purcell, a community organizer and military veteran who has spent over 30 years advocating for housing rights, traffic safety and neighborhood revitalization.
His opponent, Diaz, has a history of criminal convictions in Connecticut that include manslaughter, stalking and repeated violations of restraining orders, according to court and corrections records reviewed by The Republican.
He said in an interview that he's changed for the better with God's help and wants to give back to the community.
Diaz has never held public office but is a registered voter, he said. The Holyoke City Clerk's office confirmed he voted in the November 2024 state election.
He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and moved with his family — his parents, two brothers and a sister — to Connecticut around 1982.
According to Connecticut Department of Correction records, Diaz has served six separate prison sentences, some of them concurrent, beginning with a first-degree manslaughter conviction in April 1988.
He was released on supervised parole on Sept. 1, 1998, but returned to custody that December on a new charge, correctional records show. He was discharged with time served in January 2000, according to those records.
When asked about his manslaughter charge based on a death in New Britain Connecticut, in 1988, he said he would make explanation "short but simple."
Diaz said he was walking home from his aunt's house when he came across the scene of the incident. "I saw the murder happen. When the Police Department pulled up to the scene of the crime, my family and I were threatened," he said in the interview.
Diaz said the people who committed the crime threatened his parents. "I'm not going to put my family in jeopardy. So, I had to make a decision," he said.
Diaz's correctional record includes two 2005 convictions, one for "criminal attempt," and another for threatening, trespassing and reckless driving, which led to a two-year, three-month sentence.
An affidavit filed by the Stamford Police Department with a Connecticut Superior Court says that in November 2018, Diaz repeatedly texted his ex-girlfriend and her family despite a restraining order, according to the Stamford police.
The affidavit says Diaz went to his ex-girlfriend's daughter's workplace to talk about the breakup. A warrant was issued on Nov. 25, 2018, and he was arrested on Jan. 29, 2019, according to Superior Court records.
A story in the Stamford Advocate said that Diaz was extradited from the Bronx, New York, and arraigned in Stamford after a two-month search. "That's a long story," he said, when asked about the case.
Diaz said it was a domestic situation in which he found a former romantic partner with another man. "People expected me to react in a certain way, which I did."
Diaz said when he called Stamford Police to get the "people removed" from his house, because he had a criminal background the situation was "turned around" and used "against" him.
He said his extradition from New York to Stamford was a misunderstanding. He said he was on vacation and driving across the country from Stamford to Sacramento, California by himself for "clarity and peace."
Peter Diaz Jr. in 2021. (Photo provided by Peter Diaz Jr.)Staff
"I have all the receipts, tolls and phone logs. I had all the proof to verify I did not do such things," he said. Diaz says he never went to his former stepdaughter's job to speak with her and that his public defender declined to accept and use documents he believed would prove his innocence.
Diaz was returned to prison on Jan. 30, 2019, for violating a restraining order and served 25 months before his release on Jan. 6, 2021, according to Department of Correction records.
"It is something that I would regret for the rest of my life. I apologized. I know to leave certain people alone and move on with my life," Diaz said of the incident with the former partner, which led to the stalking charge.
After serving time, Diaz became a spokesperson for a reentry program in Hartford. "They opened a lot of doors for people coming out of prison," he said.
He decided then he needed a change, and he moved to Holyoke in 2021. "I have been fighting all my life to get this black cloud off of my back," he said. "People of color get mistreated by the court and do not always get a fair representation in court."
Diaz said that if given the chance to serve Ward 4, he wouldn't let residents down. He believes he's paid his debt to society and shouldn't be judged for his past.
He now volunteers at a local church and engages with residents through grassroots outreach. "I might not have a degree, but I have the heart and the love," he said.
On the campaign trail, he says he's building relationships with Holyoke departments, talking with residents, offering rides, helping with errands, and even playing dominoes to connect with the community.
If elected, Diaz said he wants more police presence, cleaner playgrounds free of needles, and action on quality-of-life issues like open-air drug dealing and panhandling. He said he wants to help Holyoke grow and give residents a voice.
The Republican also obtained records related to Purcell that show minor infractions — speeding in Ohio in 2004, possession of alcohol, and noise complaints in Florida in 1983 and 1984.
Purcell's background
Purcell grew up in New Mexico and moved as a teenager to Holyoke in 1974 and lived on North Summer Street.
Purcell graduated from Chicopee Comprehensive High School and joined the U.S. Army in 1977.
Purcell served 10 years in the U.S. Army, with assignments in South Korea, Fort Knox in Kentucky, Camp Casey in North Carolina, and Frankfurt, Germany.
"I got out in 1991 after Desert Storm," he said.
He worked for 29 years at Baystate Medical Center and has been a community activist for 30 years.
Purcell said he ran twice unsuccessfully for Ward 3 City Council against David Bartley and once against Anthony King.
He also ran for School Committee and joined gubernatorial candidate Dr. Jill Stein, of Lexington, in 2010 as her running mate for lieutenant governor. The pair ran on the independent ticket . Both school committee and the gubernatorial races were unsuccessful.
Purcell said he has twice organized and successfully placed a petition on the ballot for a citizen's police commission.
Before the city entered a public-private partnership for its water treatment plant, he was a chairman for a grassroots committee to "vote no" opposing the deal.
He helped establish a ballot question for a needle exchange program in Holyoke during a period when the city faced record rates of HIV and AIDS.
He was also a part of a committee organized to save Lyman Terrace with Neighbor to Neighbor, which was successful, and he was named Holyoke Veteran of the Year in 2018.
Richard Purcell is a candidate for the Ward 4 City Council seat in Holyoke. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Purcell served as a commissioner of the Holyoke War Memorial Building for 15 years and held the role of county commander for the American Legion Post in Hampden County for eight years.
Purcell moved to Suffolk Street in Ward 4 after downsizing, and says his campaign is rooted in improving quality of life for residents.
His platform includes establishing a City Hall office for renters, cleaning up blight, pushing for rent control legislation, Medicare for all and continuing his work on what he said are quality-of-life issues for Ward 4 residents — including traffic safety, reducing noise and cleaner streets.
"Housing is not just a veteran right, it is a human right," he said.
The Ward 4 City Council race will be decided in the city's municipal election Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Givner said she is ending her service on the council because she's reached her goals.
"I intend to continue working on Holyoke's speed management, enforcement, and resident accountability efforts through Holyoke's Bike & Pedestrian Committee," she said. "I'm also getting back into my podcast, 'Adventures in Organized Chaos' at Holyoke Media."
Read the original article on MassLive .
