Charges have been dropped against Virgilio Aguilar, the Guatemalan accused in the “natural” death of the police officer who arrested him.

Virgilio Aguilar Mendez will be released from prison after eight months in prison, although it is not yet clear when his charges were dismissed this Friday, as confirmed by the Seventh District State Attorney’s Office. The Guatemalan immigrant was charged with the “natural” death of the police officer who arrested him in late May 2023.

for now, Aguilar remains in federal custody and faces a deportation order. “The case is basically over, we are currently fighting to get him out immediately. We hope he gets out soon,” his lawyer said.

The 19-year-old – of indigenous origin who does not speak English or Spanish, but a variant of Mayan known as Mem – was arrested outside a hotel in St. Augustine, Florida, charged with aggravated involuntary manslaughter and another felony charge of resisting arrest. was . In January of this year, images of the violent arrest and details of the charges against him sparked outrage, with many demanding his release.

“Recent expert testimony regarding the defendant’s inability to understand the English language, his cultural background and concerns about his intellectual capacity have raised important issues for consideration in this case,” the state attorney’s office explained in a statement.

“Furthermore, based on the court’s recent ruling that the defendant is incompetent to proceed,” based on expert testimony, “Charges are dismissed. Sufficient arrest and time (in jail).”

Aguilar spent eight months in prison after his arrest in May 2023.

After his arrest, Sergeant Michael Paul Kunovich of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Department broke down. “He suffered a massive heart attack and died,” Philip Arroyo, Aguilar’s lawyer, told Noticius Telemundo at the time.

According to Arroyo, the allegations were “brazen”.

A June forensic report ruled the sergeant’s death “natural” and detailed that he suffered from hypertension and cardiovascular disease causing cardiac arrhythmias, which were influenced by efforts to stop the young immigrant, who was 18 at the time. .

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In the video of his arrest, the young man can be heard telling officers: “Sorry I don’t speak English”. One decides to register it and Aguilar resists; Several officers struggle with him and shoot him in the leg with a Taser.

Although Aguilar was arrested in May 2023, it was in late December that his case went viral on social networks like TikTok, where Latin activists like Carlos Eduardo Espina, who has more than 7 million followers on the platform, asked for support. For a young man in a series of videos with millions of views.

At the time, Aguilar’s attorney maintained that the young man was considered “suspicious” without reason and that his arrest was part of a hostile environment that existed in Florida after the passage of SB 1718, an anti-immigrant law considered by human rights organizations. is As one of the most serious in the country.