An investigation has been launched into the mysterious death of a Massachusetts State Police recruit who suffered a “medical crisis” during a defensive tactics training exercise.
Enrique Delgado-Garcia, 25, died in hospital on Friday, a day after a boxing drill at the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree, about 80 miles west of Boston.
Delgado Garcia was so seriously injured that he suffered a severe head injury, a broken neck and the loss of several teeth. Doctors say his injuries were so severe that they were equivalent to a 160km/h car accident.
The district attorney assigned to review the case has now ordered another agency to investigate her death because Delgado-Garcia had worked in the district attorney’s office for 18 months as a victim-witness advocate and was well known to staff.
She began her training to pursue her lifelong dream of joining the MSP in April.
Enrique Delgado-Garcia, 25, died in the hospital on Friday, a day after a training exercise at the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree, about 80 miles west of Boston.
Delgado-Garcia, 25, had worked directly with District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.
A state police spokesman said the academy’s medical team responded immediately after Delgado-Garcia became unresponsive during the training exercise last Thursday.
At this time, the recruit was wearing boxing gloves, a helmet and a protective sports cup.
The medical team determined that he required urgent medical attention and transported him to the hospital, where he died on Friday.
Delgado Garcia’s mother told reporters with NBC10 Boston who was beaten and seriously injured.
“I don’t understand why it was so hard if it was just training,” Sandra Garcia said through tears.
‘I want them to explain to me, for the State to explain to me what happened to my son… Why did they hit him so hard that he killed him, that he destroyed his brain and broke all of my son’s teeth and fractured my son’s neck as well.’
She continued: ‘The doctor says the injury my son received was more like something he would have received if he had been in a crash with a car traveling at 100 miles per hour, than the very hard hit the boy gave my son.’
Garcia and other family members present at the news conference declined to speak.
‘I am ashamed of the MSP and I feel that they should investigate this thoroughly and do justice because it is not right how they are treating these troops,’ a friend of Delgado told Telemundo.
“If my friend could end up like this, he could be anyone’s son or daughter,” he added.
Police training can cover a variety of physical encounters to defend against tackles, punches, and other attacks.
“I don’t understand why it was so hard if it was just training,” said mother Sandra Garcia.
Delgado-Garcia’s heartbroken family members were present during Monday’s press conference
The type of exercise Delgado Garcia was involved in has not been specified, but a video of him participating in the workout is said to exist.
Early said the autopsy report is also not finalized.
“We do not have a cause or manner of death to release at this time,” he said.
As for the training exercise, he said: “We know it was in the boxing ring. It was caught on video.” Early said he had not yet seen the video.
Early described him as “a handsome, honest young man” with a smile that “lit up a room.”
“These guys are hurting,” she said, referring to the workers in the room. “Enrique Delgado-Garcia was loved by everyone in our office,” she said.
“We would try to convince him to go home and say, ‘Enrique, what are you doing here? It’s time to go home.’ He would say, ‘No, Mr. Early, I’m leaving soon. I still have some things to do.’”
‘I begged Enrique to stay (at the DA’s office). I said, ‘Come on, you have a home here.’ We talked about him coming back as a Massachusetts State Police detective in our office. He was a very good, honest young man. He was an amazing kid.’
Delgado-Garcia’s class is scheduled to graduate on Oct. 9.
District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said the death affected him because Delgado-Garcia had worked in the prosecutor’s office before embarking on his police training.
The training exercise took place at the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree.
State police swore him in during the final hours of his life, a state police spokesman said.
“The Massachusetts State Police swore in Enrique Delgado Garcia in the final hours of his life. He was surrounded by family, loved ones and classmates during the bilingual ceremony, which culminated with the presentation of his police badge,” said Tim McGuirk.
State Police Col. John Mawn Jr. said in a statement that his department “is committed to providing support and resources to Trainee Delgado-Garcia’s family, friends and fellow academy members in the coming days and weeks as they deal with this unimaginable loss.”
TO GoFundMe It was created to help pay for funeral expenses.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey issued a statement saying she was heartbroken by the loss of Delgado-Garcia.
‘I am heartbroken by the loss of Massachusetts State Police Trainee Enrique Delgado-Garcia, who had committed himself to a career protecting the people of Massachusetts.
“He was a beloved member of his academy class, known for his compassion and devotion to service. This is a devastating time for all who knew and loved him, and we hold Enrique’s family and his State Police community in our hearts,” she said.
State police swore him in during the final hours of his life, a state police spokesman said.
Delgado-Garcia began training in April to achieve his lifelong dream of joining the state police.
During a news conference Monday, District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. recalled how Delgado-Garcia often stayed late to help people while working at the county attorney’s office.
“Because of this close relationship, someone else will handle this matter,” Early said, surrounded by tearful Delgado-Garcia family members and close former co-workers.
“This office can’t handle this. Everyone loved Enrique.”
Early said detectives assigned to his office will continue to investigate, but will work with whatever agency takes over.
He said he spoke with several state agencies about taking on the case, but declined to identify them. He said it would not be another district attorney’s office.
“My concern is that we won’t be able to investigate. I want it to be done by someone who has no interest in the outcome,” he said.
“We have a conflict, but we cannot stop the investigation. They will continue to investigate as they would with any other case and will collaborate with whoever is in charge of this matter.”
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