As we ring in the new year, it’s only right that we take a look back at our top stories of 2025. According to our itemlive.com analytics data, below are the top three most-viewed stories from Lynnfield with brief summaries.
Investigation into apparent Lynnfield homicide is ongoing
The investigation into an apparent homicide on Lookout Terrace on May 9 remains “active and ongoing,” according to Michael Keefe-Feldman of the Essex County District Attorney’s office.
Lynnfield Police Chief Nick Secatore said, “We do not have any updates to release at this time. I can reaffirm what we have already released, that it’s an open investigation, and we don’t believe there is any danger to the public at large. We are investigating.”
In a May 11 joint release, Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker and Secatore said their offices were investigating an “apparent homicide” of a Lookout Terrace resident in Lynnfield.
Lynnfield Police responded to a 911 call at approximately 8:30 p.m. on May 9 and found Timothy O’Neil, 55, of Lynnfield, with apparent trauma. O’Neil was pronounced deceased on the scene.
Lynnfield graduation marred by racist remarks
On June 6, Town officials learned that, after the high school graduation ceremony, Town employees had used racist words during a livestream of the event.
In a joint statement issued by Town Administrator Rob Dolan and Assistant Town Administrator Bob Curtin on June 6, they said the Town was informed of the incident at 7 p.m. that night in which “town employees were overheard using inappropriate and racist words, (and) this video and audio feed was seen and heard by people waiting to watch the graduation,” which began at 5 p.m.
The video appears to capture footage of workers setting up chairs on the football field for the ceremony. In it, the use of at least two racist words, including the N-word, can be heard clearly.
According to the Town’s statement, the individuals have been identified and placed on administrative leave pending a full investigation of the video and any other evidence.
Community raises $125,000 for Lynnfield teacher
Last February, doctors found a tumor behind Lynnfield High School teacher and Peabody native Chris Sakelakos’s knee. In May, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, an aggressive type of bone cancer, and received a 12-hour surgery to completely replace his knee.
Almost a year after that surgery and after rehab, treatment, and the cancer spreading to his lungs, Chris Sakelakos’s brother, Mark Sakelakos, and his wife, Emily Sakelakos, set up a GoFundMe page to hopefully pay for the medical expenses and to support the family.
When Mark Sakelakos was asked to run the page, he was quick to accept the responsibility, and on April 1, the fundraiser was set with a $10,000 goal.
However, no one in the Sakelakos family could predict the speed at which people donated, and within two hours, they doubled their goal. Now, it stands at just below $125,000 and is rising by the hour.
Even though Chris Sakelakos hasn’t been in a classroom since his diagnosis, his passion for learning becomes apparent with the well wishes and support his students are sending his way.
