Virgilio Aguilar-Mendez: Migrant charged after Florida deputy suffers heart attack amid confrontation

ST JOHNS COUNTY, FLORIDA: St Johns County Sergeant Michael Kunovic tragically died of heart attack in May while investigating the case of a teenage illegal migrant. Now, the alleged culprit has been charged with manslaughter in an unusually complex case.

Virgilio Aguilar-Mendez, 18, crossed the southern border illegally in 2022 and managed to enter St Augustine to work on farms, as per court documents.

Virgilio Aguilar-Mendez attempted to run away from the crime scene

The Florida sheriff's deputy saw the laborer in the parking lot of a Super 8 motel at around 9 pm on May 16 and had a few questions to ask. As per authorities, the 52-year-old began to walk towards the teen, but the latter tried to run away from the spot after seeing the veteran, reports New York Post.

“He checked out with him to simply say ‘Hey, why are you on this property trespassing?’” said St Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick at a news conference related to the case in November. “That was a simple thing, simple task," he added.

Aguilar-Mendez struggled to communicate with the officer,l as seen in the bodycam footage.

“When you saw me, you walked away,” Kunovich said to the teenager who seemed to be referring to ‘drinking’ somewhere around. “Sorry, I no speak English," Mendez responded on being asked for his identification and his name.

Virgilio Aguilar-Mendez was carrying a pocket knife at the time of the incident 

It soon got tense and Kunovich looked around him to check for a weapon as he placed his hand on one of his pockets.

The teen, fearing his deportation, tried to pull away and the deputy then had to raise his voice. “Don’t pull away from me,” he shouted.

“No, no, sorry, sorry,” the migrant responded and wanted to leave the scene. Other officers arrived and tried to get hold of Aguilar-Mendez.

“While fighting on the ground with Sergeant Kunovich and other deputies, the defendant grabbed Sergeant Kunovich’s taser in an attempt to gain control of the weapon,” the document read.

“After gaining control of and placing the defendant in handcuffs, he armed himself with a folding pocket knife, which he retrieved from his shorts pockets. Deputies gave loud verbal commands to drop the knife, which were ignored and the knife had to be forcefully removed from the defendant’s hands," it added.

Once Aguilar-Mendez was placed in handcuffs, Kunovich fell on the ground and suffered a heart attack which cost him his life.