The family of a Massachusetts State Police recruit who died during a boxing training exercise at the academy now knows his official cause of death. Their attorney tells 25 Investigates that while there are no surprises in the state medical examiner’s report, the findings raise serious questions.
“This young man was, was essentially beaten to death in a boxing match,” said Michael Wilcox, the family of the attorney who represents the family of 25-year-old Enrique Delgado Garcia.
According to Wilcox, the state medical examiner determined Enrique died from complications from brain bleeds due to blunt impact injuries of the head in the setting of physical training exercises.
As 25 Investigates has reported for months, Enrique was just weeks away from graduating from the State Police Academy when he died last September after training inside the academy’s boxing ring.
Wilcox said the report documents injuries that include eye contusions, bleeding on both sides of the brain, a broken bone in the neck, as well as injuries to his torso, arm, upper chest, back, and leg.
“So, I think people need to answer some questions here as to why this program existed in the first place, and why it wasn’t better monitored,” Wilcox told Boston 25’s Kerry Kavanaugh.
When asked about the scope of the injuries, Wilcox responded: “This was not an isolated single punch freak event. This was a serious beat down of this young man in the context of a training exercise that was supposed to be closely monitored by people running that academy. And I think the questions that we have is ‘how could this possibly happen’.”
Another concern raised by the family is the timing of the report. Wilcox noted the report was dated June 27 but was not provided to the family until August 26—a lag time of nearly two months.
“It certainly seems unusual,” Wilcox said.
The delay has left Enrique’s family without a death certificate, which in turn means they cannot access benefits they may be entitled to from his line-of-duty death. 25 Investigates asked the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner about the delay. The office referred us to Attorney David Meier, the appointed independent investigator, for any comment on the investigation related to Trooper Enrique Delgado Garcia.
Following Enrique’s death, the State Police Academy suspended all boxing. They also said they conducted an hour-by-hour review of the training curriculum.
25 Investigates also wanted to learn more about the recruits’ experiences and culture at the MSP academy. Last October, we asked to review the exit interviews of people who quit the academy. The state asked for more than $176,000 fee to review the public records request. Boston 25 News did not pay that fee. MSP also stated the records were exempt from public records law.
In a recent interview with Boston 25’s Gene Lavanchy, Massachusetts State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble said he is also awaiting results of the ongoing independent investigation.
“We, as well as the Commonwealth, as well as the public, but most importantly the family, I think all share a common goal, which is to get the results of the investigation, and we certainly look forward to that,” Colonel Noble said.
Wilcox added: “It was reckless beyond belief that they allow this to happen.”
The independent investigation is now in its 11th month. 25 Investigates asked the investigator for an update but did not receive a response.
September 12 will mark one year since Enrique Delgado Garcia’s death.
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