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A Guatemalan unlawful immigrant accused of killing a police officer final 12 months has been launched from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.
Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, 19, was charged with aggravated manslaughter of an officer after a scuffle involving a number of legislation enforcement officers in May 2023.
St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Michael Kunovich died on account of the incident, however costs towards Mendez have been dropped final month.
On Friday, Aguilar Mendez’s lawyer, Phillip Arroyo, shared a TikTok video exhibiting the second Mendez was launched for the primary time since May 2023.
The video reveals the teenager smiling and nodding whereas talking with Arroyo as they stroll towards a digicam.
“Virgilio Aguilar lastly FREE! God is nice,” Arroyo wrote in a caption in Spanish.
The launch comes 10 months after Kunovich, 52, collapsed from “medical misery” in the course of the encounter with Aguilar Mendez, who was 18 on the time. The officer later died.
According to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, Kunovich initially approached Aguilar Mendez at about 9 p.m. on May 19, suspecting him of against the law.
Aguilar Mendez then continued strolling away from the deputy.
“Aguilar Mendez was strolling on a public sidewalk and talking along with his mom, which is not against the law,” a lawsuit states. “When Sgt. Kunovich seized Aguilar Mendez, he stopped and didn’t attempt to flee.”
The officer pursued Aguilar Mendez, who apologized in English, earlier than persevering with to withstand the arrest.
The migrant was allegedly confused and advised the deputy, “I’m sorry, no converse, no converse English.”
Other deputies, together with those that spoke Spanish, responded, and officers tased the migrant and tackled him to the bottom, Sheriff Robert Hardwick stated on the time.
The sheriff’s workplace stated the deputies tried to restrain Aguilar Mendez, who they declare was resisting arrest.
The deputies then handcuffed the migrant, however he managed to amass a small pocketknife.
The workplace didn’t say if the migrant tried to make use of the weapon.
The scuffle was recorded by the officers’ bodycams, and the attorneys level to the video as proof of the migrant’s incapacity to grasp or converse English.
Aguilar Mendez’s lawyer, Jose Baez, argued his consumer was confused and didn’t perceive the aim or cause for the officers to pile on him, to bodily strike him a number of occasions and the repeated use of a Taser by Sgt. Kunovich.
A lawsuit filed by Baez claimed Lt. Jose Jimenez, one other responding deputy, didn’t make Aguilar Mendez conscious of his Miranda rights or try and get hold of an interpreter for him.
The seventh District State Attorney’s Office agreed and issued an announcement.
“Recent skilled testimony concerning the defendant’s incapacity to grasp the English language, his cultural background and issues about his mental capability have raised important points to think about within the case,” the state lawyer’s workplace stated.
“Furthermore, based mostly on the court docket’s current ruling that the defendant is incompetent to proceed based mostly on that skilled testimony, dismissal of the costs is acceptable. Arrest and time served is enough.”
Kunovich was a 25-year veteran of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, and Sheriff Hardwick described him as a “valued member of the St. Johns County Office who passionately devoted his profession to conserving our group secure.”
Fox News’ Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
