Three state police officers who are charged with manslaughter in connection to the 2024 death of trooper trainee Enrique Delgado-Garcia pleaded not guilty Thursday as new court documents offer more details into the allegations against them.

Lt. Jennifer Penton, and troopers Edwin Rodriguez and David Montanez were all released on their own personal recognizance. Another trooper Casey Lamonte has also been charged but will not be arraigned until next week.

The Worcester Superior Court room where the troopers were arraigned was filled, with court officers telling some spectators that they had to wait outside. Those who sat in the courtroom included Delgado-Garcia’s family, their supporters wearing green, and members of the Mass State Police.

Delgado-Garcia died after being knocked out during a boxing match at the State Police Academy in 2024. Special Prosecutor David Meier said that the trainee had been a part of an unauthorized sparring match the day before that resulted in concussion symptoms.

Penton was the supervisor of the Defensive Tactics Unit, which oversaw the boxing matches, while the other officers were instructors.

Meier didn’t give many details in open court but instead filed a statement of the Commonwealth’s case. The judge allowed the filing to be public against the objections of the troopers’ defense lawyers, citing the public nature of the case.

“I didn’t find it to be inflammatory,” the judge added.

According to the statement, Delgado-Garcia originally wasn’t supposed to face the “most skilled ‘fighter’” in his training group during Boxing Day at the State Police Academy on Sept. 12, 2024, the fight that knocked him out a day before his death.

Instead, Delgado-Garcia’s opponent had been matched up to the trainee “who was physically among the largest and strongest trainees in the group,” the statement said.

“When that match-up was announced, however, the second trainee immediately voiced concerns to the Defensive Tactics staff and other trainees about the superior boxing skills of the experienced trainee with whom he had been matched – and requested to change his partner,” the statement continued.

The other trainee was allegedly pressured into keeping the match, but he held firm.

Some members of the unit then asked for someone to volunteer against the “fighter” of the group.

“Enrique Delgado Garcia was the only trainee to volunteer,” the statement said.

Additionally, Delgado-Garcia was already experiencing concussion symptoms from a Sept. 11 “unauthorized, unapproved and deficiently supervised boxing-related sparring exercise,” the Commonwealth said, something he complained about to other recruits. The statement said that there was a failure to evaluate a medical form he filled out the morning before the Boxing Day match.

The Commonwealth also stated that there was evidence that the defendants and command staff “engaged in significant after-the-fact conduct, conversations, and communications” about the unauthorized sparring the day before the trainee’s knock out, including allegedly changing the State Police Academy lesson plan to include the previously unscheduled Sept. 11 event.

Following the arraignment, attorneys for the defendants spoke outside the courthouse.

Penton’s lawyer Brad Bailey called Delgado-Garcia’s death a tragedy. “But… it is not a crime,” he said. “Bringing these criminal charges will not bring him back.”

Bailey called the legal arguments to come from the Commonwealth “convoluted,” saying that his client was innocent and mentioning that the incidents were all taped.

President of the State Police Association of Massachusetts Brian Williams also spoke in support of the officers.

“Accountability is essential but it must be grounded in a strict adherence to the facts,” he said. “I cannot be driven by public pressure or by incomplete and inaccurate information.”

During the impromptu press conference, people holding signs with photos of the dead trooper shouted his name. One sign said, “Penton is the female Proctor.”

The defendants’ lawyers will be back in court on June 17 for a pre-trial conference, but the troopers are excused from attending.