Investigators say a boxing drill and earlier sparring left Enrique Delgado-Garcia with fatal head injuries.
BOSTON, MA — A supervisor and three instructors at the Massachusetts State Police Academy were indicted on charges tied to the 2024 death of recruit Enrique Delgado-Garcia, authorities said, after an independent investigation concluded staff failed to protect him during boxing-based training in New Braintree.
The indictments, announced Feb. 9, mark the most serious step yet in a case that has shadowed the agency’s training program since Delgado-Garcia collapsed during a defensive tactics exercise in September 2024 and died the next day. The case has fueled scrutiny of academy culture, physical training safeguards, and oversight in a program that prepares recruits for street confrontations. Attorney General Andrea Campbell said accountability is required when trainees are placed in harm’s way, while the State Police Association said the accused deserve due process as the case moves toward arraignment.
Independent counsel David Meier, appointed to lead the review after local prosecutors recused themselves, said a special statewide grand jury spent months hearing testimony and examining academy records before returning indictments against Sgt. Jennifer Penton and Troopers Edwin Rodriguez, David Montanez and Casey LaMonte. Prosecutors allege the four held direct control over key portions of defensive tactics instruction and ignored warning signs in the days before Delgado-Garcia’s death. Meier said the evidence showed “wanton and reckless” acts and omissions, including failing to intervene during a competitive boxing bout and allowing unauthorized sparring that left the recruit showing concussion-like symptoms.
Delgado-Garcia, 25, was a member of the 90th Recruit Training Troop and was nearing the end of training when he suffered the injuries, officials said. Investigators described a sequence that began on Wed., Sept. 11, 2024, when recruits took part in boxing-related sparring sessions that were not approved, not properly supervised and not conducted under safe conditions. Meier said Delgado-Garcia showed signs consistent with a concussion after those sessions. The next day, Thu., Sept. 12, academy staff ran a defensive tactics exercise in a boxing ring that included a training match between Delgado-Garcia and another recruit. Meier said instructors did not stop the bout in time, and Delgado-Garcia took multiple blows to the head before he became unresponsive. He was taken for urgent medical care and died at a hospital on Sept. 13, 2024.
The charges against the four defendants include involuntary manslaughter and causing serious bodily injury to a person participating in a training program involving physical exercise, authorities said. Penton, who supervised the defensive tactics unit at the time, also faces a perjury charge tied to her grand jury testimony. Investigators said that when she was questioned under oath about the timeline of when she learned Delgado-Garcia had concussion-like symptoms, she provided false answers. The other three defendants are accused of actions and failures that prosecutors say created an unreasonable risk of serious harm during a drill that should have been controlled by staff. Meier said none of the four will be arrested; instead, the court is expected to issue summonses, and an arraignment date will be set in the future.
Officials said the criminal case is also shaped by unusual procedural steps. Death investigations are typically handled by the local district attorney’s office, but Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early recused himself because Delgado-Garcia had worked in that office as a victim witness advocate before joining the academy. Campbell appointed Meier, a veteran trial lawyer and former prosecutor, to run the independent investigation. Meier said the inquiry required a long period of silence because of grand jury rules and ethical limits, but he said his team met with Delgado-Garcia’s family throughout the process. He also said the evidence did not support criminal charges against the academy’s broader command staff and did not show that Delgado-Garcia was singled out or targeted. “There is no evidence” of personal animosity or malice toward him, Meier said, describing a case he said turned on reckless training choices, not a personal vendetta.
The death has remained a painful point for the agency and the recruit’s classmates. Delgado-Garcia was set to graduate within weeks, but instead, officials said he was sworn in and pinned with a badge during a hospital-room ceremony in his final hours. In the weeks after his death, supporters held protests and carried signs bearing his likeness outside a state police academy graduation ceremony in Worcester, pressing leaders to release information and change training practices. In public remarks announcing the indictments, Campbell called Delgado-Garcia a public servant whose goal was to serve as a state trooper and said, “Enrique should be alive today.” Lawyers for the family have said his injuries included severe trauma to the head, and they have argued the training environment failed to respond to clear symptoms after earlier sparring.
Since 2024, state police leaders have pointed to changes they say were meant to prevent a similar death. Officials said full-contact boxing was suspended after Delgado-Garcia’s collapse and remains off the curriculum. The agency has said academy leadership was replaced, and training practices have been reviewed in detail, including a closer look at how defensive tactics are taught and monitored. Colonel Geoffrey Noble, the state police superintendent, said in a statement after the indictments that it was a “difficult and somber day” for the agency, adding that the department cooperated with the independent investigation while continuing its public safety mission. Noble has also said an outside review of training practices was commissioned through the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is nearing completion, as the department evaluates how to balance realism in training with safeguards for recruit health.
Reactions to the indictments split along familiar lines: demands for accountability from civil rights and community advocates, and warnings from the police union about prejudging the case. Lawyers for Civil Rights Executive Director Iván Espinoza-Madrigal said he was encouraged to see accountability efforts move forward and said recruits must be protected regardless of background. The State Police Association of Massachusetts said the indicted training staff are entitled to the presumption of innocence and pledged to defend them, while also saying it would keep working with the department to strengthen training standards. Family attorney Michael Wilcox said the filing of charges was a major milestone and argued the perjury allegation reflects an effort to conceal what happened, adding that the family believes the case should lead to lasting reforms rather than a short burst of attention.
The case now shifts from investigation to court. Prosecutors said the defendants will be summoned and arraigned, where formal pleas will be entered and conditions of release may be set. The court process is expected to include the release of more details about academy policies, instructor responsibilities and the training sequence that led to Delgado-Garcia’s fatal injuries. For now, officials say boxing remains suspended at the academy as the agency continues internal reviews and awaits the next scheduled milestones in both the criminal case and the broader training assessment.
Author note: Last updated February 11, 2026.