Wake set for beloved Mass. State Police recruit who died after training exercise

WORCESTER, Mass. — A wake will be held Friday for a beloved Massachusetts State Police recruit who died after taking part in a training exercise at the state police academy in New Braintree earlier this month.

Calling hours for 25-year-old Enrique Delgado-Garcia are from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Mercandete Funeral Home and Chapel in Worcester. A funeral service will follow at 10:30 a.m. Saturday before he’s laid to rest at the Hope Cemetary in Worcester.

Delgado-Garcia passed away after suffering broken bones, damaged or missing teeth, and a spinal injury during defensive training in a boxing ring at the academy, sources told 25 Investigates.

Massachusetts State Police Col. John Mawn asked the State Police Division of Standards and Training to “comprehensively investigate” the academy’s defensive tactics program after Delgado-Garcia’s death.

On Monday, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced that longtime trial attorney David Meier will lead an independent investigation into Delgado-Garcia’s death.

Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early decided last week that an independent agency must lead the investigation into Delgado-Garcia’s death because he worked as a victim advocate in Early’s office before transitioning down a law enforcement path with the state police.

“Because of this close relationship, someone else will be handling this matter,” Early said last week. “There is no way this office can handle this. Everyone loved Enrique.”

The Massachusetts State Police will have no role in Meier’s investigative team or decision-making process, Campbell noted.

Delgado-Garcia was sworn in as a trooper in his final hours.

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