Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said Monday that his office will not handle the investigation into the death of a Massachusetts State Police recruit after a training exercise last week because it would be a conflict given that the trooper used to work as a victim witness advocate for his office.
Enrique Delgado-Garcia, 25, died at a hospital on Friday, a day after the exercise at the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree, according to state police. A state police spokesman said the academy's on-site medical team responded immediately after Delgado-Garcia became unresponsive. They determined that he required urgent medical care and took him to the hospital, where he died.
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Before entering the state police academy, Delgado-Garcia spent 18 months working as a victim witness advocate for the Worcester County District Attorney's Office. At a press conference Monday, Early said his office cannot be impartial because Delgado-Garcia used to work for them and so he is looking to hand the investigation off to someone else.
"Because of this close relationship, someone else will be handling this matter," Early said. "There's no way this office can handle this."
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He didn't say who that would be, only that it won't be another district attorney's office because they also employ state police investigators and can't be fully impartial.
"My concern is that we can't investigate, and I want it done by someone who doesn't have a stake in its outcome," the district attorney said.
Early said he spoke with "four different entities in the state" Friday about taking over the investigation. But until the investigation has been handed off, he said state police detectives assigned to his office will continue to investigate Delgado-Garcia's death.
"We have a conflict, but we can't stop the investigation," he said. "They'll continue to investigate as they would any other case, and will work with whoever takes this matter."
Early said an autopsy has been completed, but the cause and manner of death have not been released because the autopsy report has not been finalized. He said the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is handling the autopsy.
He said there is video of the incident, and confirmed that it happened in a boxing ring.
The district attorney was overcome with emotion several times during Monday's press conference, having to pause briefly as he recounted how beloved Delgado-Garcia was.
"Enrique Delgado-Garcia was loved by everyone in our office," he said.
Early said Delgado-Garcia worked for his office until April, when he left to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a Massachusetts State Police trooper.
"This is a time of mourning for Enrique's family and loved ones," he said. "This is a heartbreaking and tragic loss. Enrique constantly worked to make life better for others. He was one of the first to help victims or coworkers. He always did so with one of the biggest smiles you've ever seen. He was a unique individual."
The district attorney talked about how he'd often go to leave the office after 6 p.m., and Delgado-Garcia would still be there talking on the phone to a victim or a victim's family.
"We'd try and get him to go home, saying, 'Enrique, what are you doing here? It's time to go home.' He'd say, 'No, Mr. Early, I'll be leaving soon. I got a few things I still need to do.'"
"Everyone loved Enrique," Early added. "I begged Enrique to stay (at the DA's office). I said, 'C'mon, you've got a home here.' We talked about him coming back being a Massachusetts State Police detective in our office. He was such a fine, upstanding young man. This was just an amazing kid."
Delgado-Garcia's mother and other family members were at Monday's press conference, but did not want to speak. Early asked the media to respect their privacy. Over a dozen of Delgado-Garcia's former coworkers in the district attorney's office also attended.
"This as hard as it gets," Early said. "I mean, I loved that kid. He's just the nicest kid in the world... he was 25, had his whole life in front of him. It's hard. It's hard for all of us. I'm not the only one in this office suffering. A lot of people are hurting right now."
