WORCESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early, Jr. on Monday said his office will hand off its investigation into the death of Massachusetts State Police Trooper Enrique Delgado-Garcia, citing a conflict of interest.
“There’s no way this office can handle this,” Early said in a press conference late Monday morning. “Someone else will be handling this matter.”
State police said Delgado-Garcia, 25, died Friday after suffering a medical emergency during a defensive tactics exercise at the Massachusetts State Police Training Academy in New Braintree on Thursday.
Delgado-Garcia was a trooper recruit on track to graduate next month. After being rushed to a hospital, he had his oath of office administered to him and he was pinned with his trooper badge in his final hours of life.
Delgado-Garcia previously spent roughly 18 months working as a victim and witness advocate within the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office.
“This is a heartbreaking and tragic loss,” Early said, appearing to grow emotional at times during his remarks.
Flanked by Delgado-Garcia’s family, Early described Delgado-Garcia as a “unique individual” who “constantly worked to make life better for others.”
While Delgado-Garcia worked as an advocate, Early said he would frequently leave near 6 p.m. and see Delgado-Garcia still speaking with a victim or a victim’s family member on the phone.
Early would tell Delgado-Garcia to go home.
“He would always say ‘I got a little bit more here to do,’” Early said.
State police said the onsite medical team at the New Braintree training academy responded quickly after Delgado-Garcia’s medical emergency and determined he needed further care at a hospital.
As doctors rushed to treat Delgado-Garcia, Early said state police detectives assigned to his office also responded.
Though he said his office will hand off the investigation, Early said state police investigators will still be involved.
“We have a conflict as an office,” Early said. “But right now, we can’t stop this investigation.”
Officials did not immediately confirm details about what led to Delgado-Garcia’s death.
Early said experts had completed their autopsy of Delgado-Garcia as of Monday morning. But an autopsy report was not finalized, meaning officials had yet to determine Delgado-Garcia’s cause and manner of death.
Since his office is currently overseeing the case, Early said the Worcester DA’s Office will decide who assumes control next.
Early did not name specific agencies to which he might hand the investigation. But he said he does not want to give the case to another district attorney’s office.
“I just know it will be someone without a stake in its outcome,” Early said.
Though he said he did not immediately know who will see the case to its conclusion, Early said he is confident investigators will remain professional. Early said he is also committed to keeping the process “as transparent as possible.”
He said he expects to announce a decision about the future of the case by the end of the week.
Asked if he believes anything criminal happened at the New Braintree training academy, Early said he would not speculate.
‘His dream was to be a state trooper’
From state leaders, to former colleagues, to loved ones, tributes poured in after Delgado-Garcia died.
As people who knew Delgado-Garcia grappled with his loss, gym owner Matthew Carroll was among those sharing his memories.
“His dream was to be a state trooper,” Carroll told 7NEWS.
Carroll works as a trainer at the gym Delgado-Garcia used before he joined the state police training academy.
In their time working together, Carroll said Delgado-Garcia was laser focused on fulfilling his dream.
“Once he agreed to do the academy, he worked that much harder and he made that his goal when he was in here,” Carroll said.
A Worcester resident, Delgado-Garcia entered the 90th Recruit Training Troop in April. His class will graduate on Tuesday, Oct. 9 at the DCU Center in Worcester.
After his death, Delgado-Garcia was honored with a police procession escorting his body to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Westfield.
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