Four members of the State Police Academy will face involuntary manslaughter charges over the death of trooper trainee Enrique Delgado-Garcia.

Sergeant Jennifer Penton, Trooper Edwin Rodriguez, Trooper David Montanez, and Trooper Casey LaMonte also face charges of causing serious bodily injury while participating in a training program involving physical exercise, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

The charges were announced at a joint press conference Monday between Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and Attorney David Meier, who was hired to complete an independent investigation into Delgado-Garcia’s death.

The four members of the State Police were a part of the Academy’s Defensive Tactics Unit.

“Factually and legally each of these individuals owed a duty of care to Enrique Delgado Garcia and to his fellow trainees,” Meier said.

Delgado-Garcia was knocked unconscious during a boxing exercise at the State Police Academy on Sept. 12, 2024 and died the following day.

During the press conference, Meier said that Delgado-Garcia had been exhibiting concussion symptoms from a boxing the day before he was knocked out, on Sept. 11.

“Reckless conduct resulted in Enrique Delgado Garcia suffering concussion like symptoms as the result of unauthorized, unapproved and unsupervised boxing-related sparring exercises that occurred during academy training activities,” Meir said.

Penton, the supervisor of the unit, will also face a perjury charge for allegedly providing false statements to a grand jury about when she initially knew of Delgado-Garcia’s concussion symptoms.

Meir said that a special statewide grand jury indicted the state police officers, who have not been arrested but will be issued summons to be arraigned at a later date.

The grand jury heard from 150 witnesses, the vast majority state police officers, and examined 350 exhibits.

While the grand jury evidence concluded with charges for the four officers, it did not show that charges should be brought against the academy’s command staff, Meir said.

“There is no evidence that Enrique Delgado-Garcia was targeted in any way,” he added. “There is no evidence that anyone — academy staff, fellow trainees, or any others — harbored any personal animosity towards Enrique Delgado-Garcia.”

Meir acknowledged that through the investigation, he has not made any public comments. “The silence has been purposeful,” he said.

Both he and Campbell explained that it was because of the nature of the case and the need for a throughout investigation and proper grand jury process.

“I know to some that this process to some has felt long and opaque,” Campbell said. “Confidentiality is by design to ensure fairness for everyone involved.”

Campbell had appointed Meir as an independent investigator because of a conflict of interest within the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office. Delgado-Garcia began his career in public service as a witness advocate for the office.

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“In no way is this investigation and the charges it has yielded a condemnation of all law enforcement,” Campbell said, adding that she sees the important work of police officers everyday. “Just as they protect us, it is our responsibility to ensure that our aspiring officers at the Massachusetts police training academy are protected from preventable harms.”

Campbell said that she looks forward to working with State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble to implement future reforms.

This story is developing…