3 state troopers plead not guilty to charges connected to death of recruit after boxing match

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A supervisor and two instructors with a Massachusetts State Police tactical unit plead not guilty Thursday in connection with the death of a recruit who suffered a concussion during a sparring session and blunt force injuries a day later in what investigators called an “unapproved and unsafe” boxing match.

Enrique Delgado-Garcia, 25, died at a hospital on Sept. 13, 2024, a day after undergoing a “medical crisis” and becoming unresponsive during a defensive tactics exercise in the boxing ring, authorities said at the time. Charges in these types of cases are exceedingly rare.

David Meier, an investigator appointed by Massachusetts' attorney general, announced in February that the supervisor and the instructors in the police academy’s defensive tactics unit were being charged with involuntary manslaughter and causing serious bodily injury to a person participating in training. The supervisor also was charged with perjury in connection with her grand jury testimony.

Meier had said unsafe sparring sessions led to the trainee's concussion, adding he sustained “multiple blunt force injuries to the head and massive brain bleeding” a day later after academy staff failed to stop a training boxing match.

Lt. Jennifer Penton, the supervisor and a sergeant at the time she was charged, along with Troopers Edwin Rodriguez and David Montanez, entered not guilty pleas to all charges before Worcester Superior Court Judge J. Gavin Reardon Jr.. A fourth trooper, Casey LaMonte, faces arraignment April 14.

In a packed courtroom, Penton, Rodriguez and Montanez stood together and responded “not guilty” as the charges were read. Across the courtroom, relatives of Delgado-Garcia watched quietly. A handful of people outside court help up signs showing the trainee's face and the words, "Justice For Enrique."

The three defendants were released on personal recognizance under several conditions including having no contact with potential witnesses in the case.

Outside court, the family's attorney, Mike Wilcox, said Thursday was “a difficult and long day” for Delgado-Garcia's relatives, some seen holding back tears.

“They've been patient. They have been gracious through all this. They have shown nothing but class,” Wilcox said.

“They are grieving still, as you can tell, and they are going to stick with this process for as long as it takes,” he said. “They want justice for Enrique, and they want to make sure that the process is fair and that Enrique is heard here.”

The defendants didn't speak exiting the court but their attorneys called the death a “tragic accident” and said the three were just doing their jobs and would be found innocent.

“The tragedy of Trooper Delgado is not a crime. Filing these criminal charges will not bring Trooper Delgado Garcia back,” Penton's lawyer Brad Bailey said. “The Commonwealth’s effort to apply ... convoluted legal theory to the underlying facts will not change them. Nor will it transform this tragedy into criminal conduct.”

Kevin Reddington, representing Montanez, described all three troopers as “good people" and defended the training as necessary to prepare recruits for their crime-fighting duties.

“It’s so easy for people to say oh my goodness that was just too rough,” Reddington said. “This is reckless conduct that they’re alleging, manslaughter charges that they are alleging against people that were doing their job, consistent with rules, regulations, and what has been recognized as valid training.”

Brian Williams, the president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, also defended the troopers.

“These members and our entire defensive tactics staff are among the best in the nation and all established protocols were strictly followed,” he said.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell appointed Meier in February and said it was important to have an independent, impartial investigatio. It follows calls from advocacy groups and Delgado-Garcia’s family and friends for those responsible to be held accountable.

An Associated Press investigation, “ Dying to Serve, ” has found that more than 30 recruits have died during law enforcement academies since 2015, caused by a mix of violent or grueling training exercises, heat, exertion and other medical conditions.

The number of deaths have risen in recent years as departments turn to less-traditional candidates to fill openings but maintain longstanding academy drills. Investigators have generally treated them as unfortunate but unavoidable medical incidents, and criminal charges have rarely been considered.

The charges in Massachusetts are believed to be the first related to a police academy recruit’s death in years. In examining the deaths of 37 recruits since 2005, AP could not find any other case that led to criminal charges.

Other forms of legal accountability, including civil lawsuits and workplace safety investigations, have also rarely been pursued. Families have struggled to collect federal death benefits, even after Congress passed a law clarifying that recruits were eligible.

Associated Press writer Ryan J. Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, contributed to this report.

Judge James Gavin Reardon Jr. speaks during the arraignment of Massachusetts State Police Lt. Jennifer Penton and troopers David Montanez and Edwin Rodriguez, on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Enrique Delgado-Garcia, in Worcester Superior Court, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Worcester, Mass. (Rick Cinclair/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP, Pool)

Lawyer Bradford Bailey, right, speaks as Lt. Jennifer Penton, center, from left, and troopers David Montanez and Edwin Rodriguez, are arraigned on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Enrique Delgado-Garcia, in Worcester Superior Court, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Worcester, Mass. Special prosecutor David Meier is seated at left. (Rick Cinclair/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP, Pool)

Massachusetts State Police Lt. Jennifer Penton, from left, and troopers David Montanez and Edwin Rodriguez, are arraigned on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Enrique Delgado-Garcia, in Worcester Superior Court, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Worcester, Mass. (Rick Cinclair/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP, Pool)

Mass State Police Lt. Jennifer Penton, front, Trooper David Montanez, middle, and Trooper Edwin Rodriguez, rear, stand outside Worcester County Superior Court after pleading not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Worcester, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Brian Williams, President of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, addresses reporters outside Worcester County Superior Court following the arraignment of three State Police officers, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Worcester, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Rod Cleveland, of Middleborough, Mass., a supporter of victim Enrique Delgado-Garcia, pickets outside Worcester County Superior Court where three Mass. State Police officers were arraigned on charges of involuntary manslaughter, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Worcester, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Lt. Jennifer Penton and from left, troopers David Montanez and Edwin Rodriguez are arraigned in Worcester Superior Court on Thursday, April 2, 2026 in Worcester, Mass. (Rick Cinclair/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP, Pool)

Mass State Police Lt. Jennifer Penton arrives for her arraignment on charges of involuntary manslaughter outside Worcester County Superior Court, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Worcester, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Mass State Police Trooper Edwin Rodriguez, center, arrives for arraignment on charges of involuntary manslaughter outside Worcester County Superior Court, Thursday, April 2, 2026, in Worcester, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

FILE - People display signs with with a likeness of Massachusetts State Police recruit Enrique Delgado-Garcia, who died following a State Police Academy training exercise, at a protest outside the State Police Academy graduation ceremony, Oct. 9, 2024, at the DCU Center, in Worcester, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran fired more missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states Thursday, demonstrating Tehran’s continued ability to strike its neighbors even as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed the threat from the country was nearly eliminated.

Iran’s attacks on Gulf states along with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted the world’s energy supplies with effects far beyond the Middle East. That has proved to be Iran’s greatest strategic advantage in the war. Britain held a call with nearly three dozen countries about how to reopen the strait once the fighting is over.

Trump has insisted the strait can be taken by force — but said it is not up to the U.S. to do that. In an address to the American people Wednesday night, he encouraged countries that depend on oil from Hormuz to “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”

Before the U.S. and Israel started the war on Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran, the waterway was open to traffic and 20% of all traded oil passed through it.

Iran responded defiantly to Trump’s speech, in which the American president claimed U.S. military action had been so decisive that “one of the most powerful countries” is “really no longer a threat.”

A spokesman for Iran’s military, Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, insisted Thursday that Tehran maintains hidden stockpiles of arms, munitions and production facilities. He said facilities targeted so far by U.S. strikes are “insignificant.”

Just before Trump began his address — in which he said U.S. “core strategic objectives are nearing completion” — explosions were heard in Dubai as air defenses worked to intercept an Iranian missile barrage.

Less than a half-hour after the president was done, Israel said its military was also working to intercept incoming missiles. Sirens sounded in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, immediately after the speech.

Attacks continued across Iran on Thursday, with strikes reported in multiple cities.

Iran state media reported that strikes on the B1 bridge, which was still under construction, killed eight people and wounded 95. The outlet, citing authorities in Alborz province, said the victims had gathered under the bridge and along the riverbank for Nature Day, which Iranians celebrate by gathering outside.

In a post on X that included a picture of what appeared to be the same bridge, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote, “Striking civilian infrastructure only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray.”

Trump posted footage on social media showing what he said was the collapse of Iran's biggest bridge and threatening, “Much more to follow.” It was not immediately clear if the footage Trump shared was the B1 bridge, reportedly the tallest in the Middle East.

In Lebanon — where Israel has launched a ground invasion against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants — Israeli strikes have killed 27 people in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said.

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.

More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.

Iranian attacks on about two dozen commercial ships, and the threat of more, have halted nearly all traffic in the waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.

Since March 1, traffic through the strait has dropped 94% over the same period last year, according to the Lloyds List Intelligence shipping data firm. Two ships are confirmed to have paid a fee, the firm said, while others were allowed through based on agreements with their home governments.

Saudi Arabia piped about 1 billion barrels of oil away from the Strait of Hormuz in March, according to maritime data firm Kpler, while Iraq said Thursday that it had started to truck oil across Syria to avoid the strait.

The 35 countries that spoke Thursday, including all G7 industrialized democracies except the U.S., as well as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, signed a declaration last month demanding Iran stop blocking the strait.

Thursday’s talks were focused on political and diplomatic measures, but British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said military planners from an unspecified number of countries will also plot ways to ensure security once fighting ends, including potential mine-clearing work and “reassurance” for commercial shipping.

No country appears willing to try to open the strait by force while the war is raging. French President Emmanuel Macron, while on a visit to South Korea, called a military operation to secure the waterway “unrealistic.”

But there is a concern that Iran might limit traffic through the waterway even after U.S. and Israeli attacks cease.

The conflict is driving up prices for oil and natural gas, roiling stock markets, pushing up the cost of gasoline and threatening to make a range of goods, including food, more expensive.

Oil prices remained elevated, however, at $111.54 for a barrel of U.S. crude, having soared following Trump’s address. That's up about 50% from Feb. 28.

Though the oil and gas that typically transits the strait is primarily sold to Asian nations, Japan and South Korea were the only two countries from the region joining Thursday's call about the strait. The supply of jet fuel has also been interrupted, with consequences for travel worldwide.

Rising from Bangkok and Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo contributed to this story.

Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A boy who fled with his family following Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sits inside the van they are using as shelter in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A family enjoys their time during the annual public picnic day, known as Sizdeh Bedar, an ancient tradition, marking the 13th and last day of Iranian New Year, or Nowruz, holidays, at Mellat park in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Mourners gather during a funeral procession for Alireza Tangsiri, head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, and others killed in Israeli strikes in late March, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A firefighter extinguishes a car at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People take cover in a bomb shelter as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missile strikes in Bnei Brak, Israel, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Members from the Popular Mobilization Forces attend a funeral of fighters who were killed in a U.S. airstrike, in Tal Afar, Nineveh province, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Members from the Popular Mobilization Forces attend a funeral of fighters who were killed in a U.S. airstrike, in Tal Afar, Nineveh province, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

The Indian flagged LPG carrier Jag Vasant transporting liquefied petroleum gas, is seen at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, after it arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

President Donald Trump walks from the Blue Room to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)