WORCESTER, Mass. — Three of four members of the Massachusetts State Police charged in connection with the September 2024 training death of an academy recruit faced a judge for the first time on Thursday afternoon.
Sgt. Jennifer Penton, Trooper Edwin Rodriguez, and Trooper David Montanez were arraigned in Worcester Superior Court on involuntary manslaughter charges stemming from the death of Enrique Delgado-Garcia, who passed away following a boxing exercise at the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree.
A plea of not guilty was entered on behalf of Penton, Rodriguez, and Montanez.
The judge presiding over the hearing allowed the troopers to be released on personal recognizance, subject to no contact with potential witnesses in the case. They were also warned that failure to appear for future court dates and committing a felony would result in fines.
A fourth individual, Casey LaMonte, is scheduled to be arraigned on April 14.
Watch the arraignment:
Special prosecutor David Meier first announced indictments against all four of the troopers on Feb. 9.
Sources familiar with the investigation told Boston 25 that Delgado-Garcia was sparring with another trainee when he stumbled and fell to the mat, then stood back up and continued the exercise. He later collapsed after taking a blow to the head.
Investigators were told Delgado-Garcia suffered multiple injuries, including broken bones, missing teeth, and a spinal injury. Sources emphasized that there is no indication he was targeted during the training.
An independent investigation determined that the four defendants allowed “unsupervised, unauthorized, and unapproved” boxing drills to take place.
Following Delgado-Garcia’s death, the troopers involved in the exercise were suspended without pay.
In the aftermath, Massachusetts State Police announced a series of reforms at the academy, including breaking recruits into smaller training cohorts, bringing in new academy leadership, and conducting an hour‑by‑hour review of the training curriculum.
State police also suspended the full‑contact boxing training program.
The case against Penton, Rodriguez, and Montanez is due back in court on June 16, but the troopers were excused from appearing.
An investigation remains ongoing.
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