The Massachusetts State Police has suspended full-contact boxing training activities among recruits after one died, a state police spokesperson said.
Enrique Delgado-Garcia, 25, of Worcester, was pronounced dead at a hospital Sept. 13, a day after he participated in an exercise in the boxing ring at the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree, in Worcester County, about 80 miles west of Boston.
Tim McGuirk, a state police department spokesperson, said in a statement Monday that the full-contact boxing training activities between trainees has been suspended until further notice.
On the day of the exercise, Col. John Mawn Jr., the interim head of the state police, requested a full investigation by the State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office, McGuirk said. Mawn also directed the state police’s Division of Standards and Training “to comprehensively review the Academy’s defensive tactics program,” McGuirk said.
“That review remains ongoing and will ensure that the program delivers relevant skills safely and effectively to those preparing to become Troopers,” he said.
The review is assessing safety protocols, training methods and curriculum, as well as alignment with law enforcement objectives, medical and health considerations, and alternative approaches. It is soliciting feedback from recruits and instructors and information from peer organizations and subject matter experts, McGuirk said.
A cause or manner of death has not been released. Elaine Driscoll, a spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, said Monday that the physical examination had been completed; “however, additional testing continues to assist with the determination of cause and manner of death.”
Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr., whose office Delgado-Garcia had worked in as a witness victim advocate for about a year and a half before he left to fulfill his lifelong dream of joining the state police, described his death as a heartbreaking and tragic loss at a news conference last week, where he was joined by members of Delgado-Garcia’s family and former co-workers.
Early said Delgado-Garcia was loved by everyone in his office. Because of their close relationship, Early has recused himself from investigating Delgado-Garcia’s death.
“There’s no way this office can handle this,” he said. “Everyone loved Enrique.”
He added: “I’m looking for someone who can look at this with an independent view who doesn’t have a stake in its outcome.”
He said he has been in conversations with four possible entities to take over the case, but did not name them. In a statement Monday, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said she has appointed David Meier, an attorney, to lead the investigation. She said Meier had “deep experience in death investigations and will ensure independence and integrity in this matter.”
Early said state police detectives assigned to his office would continue to investigate Delgado-Garcia’s death and work with whomever takes over the investigation.
Asked what specifics he could provide about what happened to Delgado-Garcia, including whether he could address concerns that he had been beaten to death and that his teeth had been knocked out, Early said that what had occurred in the boxing ring was videotaped.
He added that it was “too early in the investigation” for him to speculate whether anything criminal had led to Delgado-Garcia’s death.
McGuirk said the state police is fully cooperating with investigatory authorities and urges the district attorney’s office to name an independent investigator as soon as possible.
Specifics of the boxing training exercise Delgado-Garcia participated in have not been disclosed.
The Massachusetts State Police has come under scrutiny over its investigations into other cases involving state troopers, including that of Karen Read, who was accused of intentionally backing her vehicle into her boyfriend, a Boston police officer. A judge declared a mistrial in her case in July.
Early said that he had begged Delgado-Garcia to stay in his office before he left to pursue a career as a state trooper and that they had discussed his returning to the district attorney’s office to be a detective after he became a state police trooper.
In the final hours of his life, Delgado-Garcia was sworn in as a trooper in the presence of his classmates, members of the department and his loved ones, McGuirk said.
Reached by phone Monday, a relative of Delgado-Garcia’s said the family was waiting to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Jessie Rossman, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, has called for a federal investigation.
Delgado-Garcia was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, and came to Worcester as a young boy, according to his obituary. He earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Westfield State University in Massachusetts.
“Enrique was an exceptional young man who devoted himself to the service of others,” the obituary said. “He had always dreamed of becoming a State Trooper and to be someone big who made a difference in the lives of the people in his community.”
His funeral is scheduled for Saturday.
