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Case involving migrant accused in death of St. Johns County deputy in limbo after incompetency ruling: State Attorney

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – For the first time on Monday, State Attorney R.J. Larizza answered questions about the controversial case involving an 18-year-old migrant who is accused in the death of a St. Johns County deputy.

Vergilio Aguilar-Mendez has been in jail since May 2023 on charges of manslaughter and resisting arrest.

He was in a confrontation with Deputy Michael Kunovich who was trying to arrest him. The deputy collapsed and later died at the hospital.

RELATED: St. Johns County deputy who died after struggle with migrant may have had heart attack before encounter, autopsy finds | Medical examiner says struggle with migrant, possible emotional stress contributed to death of St. Johns County deputy | ‘Be our guardian angel’: Son delivers emotional tribute at funeral for fallen St. Johns County Sgt. Michael Kunovich

The autopsy found the deputy had a heart attack, and ruled the circumstances did not fully meet the criteria for a homicide manner of death.

Aguilar-Mendez was ruled incompetent to proceed and is being treated at the Volusia County Jail.

RELATED: Attorney for migrant accused in St. Johns County deputy’s death calls for charges to be dropped ahead of bond hearing

News4JAX asked Larizza about a motion filed by lawyers for Aguilar-Mendez to dismiss the case.

“Right now, Mr. Mendez has been found incompetent. And that really puts a stay on all court proceedings,” Larizza said. “We really can’t do anything at this point. Like we want to resolve the case. We will continue to work with whoever’s representing, you know, the defendant in this case, but at this point competency, it really trumps everything. We filed a motion, I think in response to the motion to dismiss and beyond that, we really don’t have any comment.”

Aguilar-Mendez is being represented by Jose Baez, a nationally known attorney who’s represented Casey Anthony and Aaron Hernandez.

Court filings released on Monday showed his office submitted a form to dismiss the case.

Baez argued, “it is clear that this detention had no legal justification as there was no evidence of reasonable suspicion, let alone probable cause.”

News4JAX reached out to Baez’s office for comment following Larizza’s statements but he did not immediately respond.

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