Mass. State Police troopers charged in recruit Enrique Delgado-Garcia's death "are good people," defense argues
Three of the four Massachusetts State Police Academy instructors who are facing charges in the death of recruit Enrique Delgado-Garcia faced a judge on Thursday and were released on personal recognizance bail.
Delgado-Garcia died in 2024 after suffering a massive brain bleed during an unauthorized boxing match in New Braintree under the instruction of the four troopers, an investigation alleged.
Sgt. Jennifer Penton and Troopers Edwin Rodriguez and David Montanez are facing charges of involuntary manslaughter and causing serious bodily injury to a person participating in a training program involving physical exercise. They all pleaded not guilty.
Penton, an academy supervisor, is also charged with perjury. She's accused of giving repeated false answers during the investigation. Her arraignment on that charge is scheduled for later this month.
The fourth person charged, Trooper Casey LaMonte, is scheduled to appear in court on April 14.
The judge allowed Penton, Rodriguez, and Montanez to be released on personal recognizance bail with the condition that they not contact any potential witnesses in the case.
Their case is due back in court on June 16 for a pretrial conference, but the three troopers are able to be excused from appearing in person.
During arguments over bail conditions, defense attorney Kevin Reddington said, "These are good people. These are not people who are violent."
Outside the courthouse, defense attorney Brad Bailey said that they are continuing to offer "condolences and prayers to [Delgado-Garcia's] family."
"The evidence will show this involved one-on-one consensual contact consistent with established policy and protocol. When that happens, my client, all our clients will be fully and completely exonerated," Bailey said.
Supporters call for justice
A group of activists and supporters gathered outside the courtroom. They wore green and held signs that read "Why Enrique Delgado-Garcia murdered?" Chants of "justice for Enrique" could also be heard.
"This is for Enrique. Obviously, a horrible disaster took place at the State Police Academy, but we feel the investigation to get the truth has taken a long time," Scott McGuinness said. "The people responsible for Enrique's death at the academy need to be held accountable."
Enrique Delgado-Garcia's death
The WBZ-TV I-Team first broke the news of Delgado-Garcia's death and reported that his blunt force injuries happened while boxing at the academy.
Attorney David Meier and Attorney General Andrea Campbell announced the charges in February. The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission suspended all four troopers a short time later.
Meier said the independent investigation into Delgado-Garcia's death found that he suffered concussion-like symptoms on September 11, 2024 during "unauthorized, unapproved and unsupervised" sparring exercises.
The next morning, Delgado suffered a massive brain bleed during a competitive boxing match with another trainee. A day later, Delgado-Garcia died from his injuries.
Massachusetts State Police Col. Geoffrey Noble said that in the aftermath of Delgado-Garcia's death, the department has taken several steps to strengthen training at its academy.
