Manslaughter Charges Against MA State Police Sgt And 3 Troopers For Training Death: AG

A Massachusetts State Police sergeant and three troopers were charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of a recruit in September 2024.

Sgt. Jennifer Penton and Troopers Edwin Rodriguez, David Montanez and Casey LaMonte also were charged with causing serious bodily injury to a person participating in a training program involving physical exercise, and Penton faces a charge of perjury as well, according to a media release from the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office.

Related: Boxing Training Suspended At MA Police Academy After Recruit's Death

Penton, Rodriguez, Montanez and Lamonte were charged in connection with the death of 25-year-old recruit Enrique Delgado-Garcia.

Delgado-Garcia, a Worcester native, was nearing graduation from the Massachusetts State Police Academy when he died after reportedly being injured during a training exercise in a boxing ring.

The state police suspended full-contact boxing training for recruits after his death.

Related: Procession Held For Massachusetts State Police Recruit Who Died From Boxing Injury At Academy

"Trooper Enrique Delgado-Garcia should be alive today, fulfilling his dream of serving as a Massachusetts State Trooper," Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said in the release.

Penton was a supervisor of the state police acadaemy's defense and tactics unit, and Rodriguez, Montanez and Lamonte were full-time instructors, David Meier, an attorney appointed by Campbell to investigate the case, said during a press conference.

Related: Worcester Senators Request Investigation Update On State Police Death

Members of the training academy "committed a series of wanton and reckless acts in connection with various defensive tactics and physical confrontation training exercises conducted at the academy," Meier said.

Academy staff both committed "affirmative acts" and failed to "take certain actions, or omissions that they had a legal duty to perform during their daily interactions with the trainees who were under their care, guidance and supervision," Meier said.

Related: Massachusetts State Police Pay Tribute At Graduation To Recruit Killed In Training Exercise

Delgado-Garcia suffered "concussion-like symptoms as a result of unauthorized, unapproved and unsupervised boxing-related sparring exercises," he said.