ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla — The man previously charged with causing the death of a St. Johns County Sheriff’s Sergeant has been released from federal custody.
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St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Michael Kunovich lost his life after suffering a heart attack during a struggle with Virgilio Aguilar-Mendez back in May of last year.
Ever since, 19-year-old Aguilar-Mendez had been behind bars.
That changed last Friday when he was officially released from federal custody.
Aguilar-Mendez was initially charged with murder.
That was later reduced to manslaughter and resisting with violence before the charges were completely dropped on March 1st.
Jose Baez, an attorney who helped represent Aguilar-Mendez, told Action News Jax after the charges were dropped his client was the victim of racial profiling.
“He didn’t go looking for trouble. Trouble found him and unfortunately, that trouble came with a badge,” said Baez.
READ: State drops charges against Guatemalan man accused in St. Johns deputy’s line of duty death
The State Attorney’s Office said at the time it decided not to pursue the case after questions were raised about Aguilar-Mendez’s intellectual capacity and inability to speak English.
But Baez argued his client is competent, and accused the state attorney of deflecting.
“That’s the stupid kind of thing you say when you have blood on your face,” said Baez.
Aguilar-Mendez’s case has garnered national and international attention, largely because federal immigration authorities accused the Guatemalan-born man of being in the country illegally.
Baez told us earlier this month, that his client had been awaiting an immigration status hearing before his arrest, and he expects that process to continue on track now that he’s been released.
“And the arrest was an unlawful arrest, unjust. He’s a victim of racial profiling, so therefore, it’s not a situation where that should count against him,” said Baez.
Action News Jax did reach out to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office for comment on the release.
The agency declined, but after the charges were dropped the Sheriff issued a statement standing behind his fallen Sergeant, saying he died a hero.
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