JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Attorneys for 18-year-old migrant Vergilio Aguilar-Mendez, who is accused in the death of a St. Johns County deputy, are bolstering their arguments for why the case should be dismissed.
Sergeant Michael Kunovich collapsed after a struggle to detain Aguilar-Mendez last year. The medical examiner later found Kunovich died of a heart attack.
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Previous reports said Kunovich had damaged arteries and an irregular heartbeat and the medical examiner said the circumstances did not fully meet the criteria for a homicide manner of death. The report found scar tissue on his heart consistent with a heart attack.
Local attorney Gene Nichols is not affiliated with the case, but he has been following it. He said even with this report the state can push back.
“The medical examiner’s report does not dictate what the state of Florida is going to do,” Nichols said. “That being said, that does not mean that other experts may not disagree.”
The autopsy found damage that was healing, evidence that Sergeant Kunovich may have had a heart attack before the struggle with Aguilar-Mendez.
There was blockage ranging from 25% to 75% in his coronary arteries and in some areas plaque was calcified. The report also said he was a chronic smoker.
Dr. Vaquar Ali, cardiologist with HCA Memorial Hospital, read the autopsy findings released in a defense motion to drop the case.
“So it appears to me that in this patient, there was an underlying heart attack that happened recently, and because of that, a lack of blood flow to the heart muscle caused the scar and damage.
Ali said that sometimes people are unaware that they have suffered a heart attack.
“There is definitely a possibility that you can have sudden events like this, or it could be a possibility that he may have had some symptoms prior to this, that he may not have attributed towards heart disease, he may have thought it was congestion or chest discomfort from some other cause.”
News4JAX asked the sheriff’s office if deputies must have frequent medical checkups or physicals, and if so, how many a year.
They responded saying there are no responsive documents to our request.
Attorney Nichols said police agencies usually have physical requirements, but they may not be as extensive.
Dr. Ali said it’s common for someone to pass away from a heart condition they didn’t know they had.
“So I think for preventive cardiology, you know, we need to obviously look at the basic risk factors. So that will be your diet, exercise, smoking cessation, and then some of the medical diseases that can be prevented or be treated appropriately. diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol will be the things you have to focus on,” Ali said.
The filing also included a letter from a child advocate to unaccompanied immigrant children in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
According to his former immigration attorney, Aguilar-Mendez was scheduled for an upcoming immigration court hearing on July 8.
He hasn’t missed any court hearings and to this attorney’s knowledge, he has complied with all immigration court obligations.