4 Face Manslaughter Charges in State Police Recruit's Death

A supervisor and three instructors with a Massachusetts State Police tactical unit have been indicted in connection with the death of a recruit following a boxing match during training, the official who led an independent investigation into the case said on Monday. Enrique Delgado-Garcia, 25, died at a hospital on Sept. 13, 2024, a day after becoming unresponsive during a defensive tactics exercise in a boxing ring and having a "medical crisis," authorities said at the time. David Meier, appointed by the state's attorney general to investigate the death, said the supervisor and instructors in the Massachusetts State Police Academy's defensive tactics unit are being charged with involuntary manslaughter and causing serious bodily injury to a person participating in a training program, reports the AP.

The supervisor also has been charged with perjury in connection with her grand jury testimony. "Each of these individuals owed a duty of care to Enrique Delgado-Garcia," Meier told reporters. "Each of them committed a series of wanton and reckless acts and omissions that resulted in Enrique Delgado-Garcia's death." Meier said Delgado-Garcia was first concussed during "unauthorized, unapproved, and unsafe" sparring sessions. A day later, Delgado-Garcia sustained "multiple blunt-force injuries to the head and massive brain bleeding" after academy staff failed to stop a training boxing match.

Those indicted include the supervisor, Sgt. Jennifer Penton, along with Troopers Edwin Rodriguez, David Montanez, and Casey LaMonte. They won't be arrested, and a date for their arraignment will be set in the future, Meier said. Brian Williams, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, noted that "the veteran training staff indicted today are entitled to the same presumption of innocence and due process guaranteed to every citizen," adding that his group "intends to vigorously defend them against these charges."

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell told reporters it was important that an independent, impartial investigation be conducted into Delgado-Garcia's death. Last year, an AP probe found that at least 29 recruits died during basic training at law enforcement academies around the country in the last decade. Most died of exertion, dehydration, heatstroke, and other conditions tied to intense exercise—often on the first day of training.