The family of fallen Trooper Enrique Delgado-Garcia spoke exclusively to NBC10 Boston and Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra Thursday ahead of the 25-year-old's funeral services, saying they believe something strange must have happened at the Massachusetts State Police Academy ahead of his death.
Sandra Garcia says her son always wanted to dedicate himself to helping others. When he told her that he was interested in law enforcement, she said she worried for his safety but, as a family, they supported his dream.
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The last time Garcia spoke to her son, she caught him as he was leaving home at dawn for the State Police Academy -- just weeks away from graduating.
The next time she saw him was in the hospital.
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Garcia says she was told that Delgado-Garcia was hit in the head and lost consciousness, telling NBC10 Boston and Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra in Spanish that all of her son's teeth were broken and that he had bruises on his body. Her heart tells her there was "great negligence" involved.
As an independent investigator now takes on the case, Garcia says she wants transparency and to know what happened, because with so much damage done, she believes it was something strange.
She also believes the department should change its training: "That training is too brutal and it doesn’t have to lead to a case where an agent has to die, because I think that the police don’t go out to box, rather to try to help the community. It’s fine if a moment presents itself where they have to defend themselves, but they don’t need to implement so much aggression to those young men that it leads to the death of one of their own.”
Delgado-Garcia's stepfather, Jose Perez, says he will remember the man as a warrior, who fought until his final day for his values and his dream.
"I think my heart will always, until the last day of my life, will think of this young man that, at his young age, he could do what many who have many more years have not been able to achieve," Perez said.
Delgado-Garcia died after sustaining injuries including missing teeth, a damaged skull and a fractured neck while participating in a boxing training exercise designed to teach defense tactics. That exercise has now been suspended, and State Police Lt. Col. John Mawn has directed the agency's Division of Standards and Training to review the state police academy's defensive tactics program.
On Monday, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell named attorney David Meier to lead an independent investigation into Delgado-Garcia's death. The Worcester County District Attorney's Office had previously said that it could not conduct the investigation because Delgado-Garcia used to work as a victim witness advocate in their office.
Some of Delgado-Garcia's family and friends have previously said they suspected foul play. They have been demanding answers, already retaining an attorney.
Services for Delgado-Garcia, who was sworn into the force in the last hours of his life, will be held this weekend in Worcester. State police have said they've offered his family the full measure of ceremonial support for Friday's wake and Saturday's burial.
