Crime
The trooper is the fourth staffer to be arraigned for manslaughter after a recruit died from injuries sustained during a training exercise.
State Police recruit Enrique Delgado-Garcia died in 2024 from injuries sustained during a police academy training exercise. Worcester County DA’s Office
A fourth State Police academy staffer charged in the 2024 death of trainee Enrique Delgado-Garcia was arraigned on Wednesday.
Casey LaMonte pleaded not guilty in Worcester Superior Court to one count of felony manslaughter and one count of causing bodily harm in a physical training program, court records show. He was released on personal recognizance and ordered to stay away from any potential witnesses in the case.
LaMonte is one of four who were indicted in February in connection with Delgado-Garcia’s death. Lt. Jennifer Penton, along with Troopers Edwin Rodriguez and David Montanez, pleaded not guilty to the same charges April 2 and were released on personal recognizance.
Delgado-Garcia, 25, died Sept. 13, 2024 from injuries sustained during a boxing exercise the day before. He was knocked unconscious during a competitive boxing match with another recruit.
The trainee suffered several blunt-force head injuries and a “massive” brain bleed, prosecuting attorney David Meier said in February. Meier was hired by the Commonwealth to investigate shortly after Delgado-Garcia’s death.
LaMonte graduated from the State Police academy in 2020 and was last assigned to the department’s certification unit, which conducts background checks on recruits. He is also a senior member of the academy’s Defensive Tactics Unit who partially authored the lesson plan that trainees are supposed to follow.
Court filings state that LaMonte may have abused his access to the lesson plan by revising its list of defense tactics exercises to include “Boxing Fundamentals” as approved exercises. LaMonte also created a document shortly after Delgado-Garcia’s boxing match which “inaccurately described” that week’s training activities.
Meier described the sparring exercises that Delgado-Garcia participated in as “unauthorized, unapproved, and unsupervised.” He found that the charged officers “committed a series of wanton and reckless acts and omissions” that led to the trainee’s death.
All four staffers were relieved of duty days after they were indicted and suspended with pay later that month. State Police officials said that none had been subject to disciplinary action before the investigation.
In the wake of Delgado-Garcia’s death, State Police suspended boxing as part of its defense tactics curriculum. It remains suspended as the investigation continues.
LaMonte is due back in court June 16, according to court records. His attorney, Brian Kelly, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday night.
Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
