Petition calls for release of Guatemalan teen charged with officer's death following heart attack

An online petition calls for the release of a 19-year-old Guatemalan migrant who was charged with aggravated manslaughter after a police officer died of a heart attack.

An online petition is calling for the release of Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, a 19-year-old Guatemalan migrant who was charged with aggravated manslaughter after a Florida police officer collapsed and later died following a struggle while attempting to arrest the teen.

The Change.org petition, which was started on Jan. 3 by Mariana Blanco of the nonprofit The Guatemalan-Maya Center, has gained a lot of traction in recent days. As of Tuesday morning, the petition had garnered over 443,000 signatures.

Aguilar Mendez's lawyer, Phillip Arroyo, told ABC News that signatures on the online petition are being directed to the U.S. Department of Justice and the St. Johns County's Sheriff's Office. Arroyo has also requested the State Attorney's Office of the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Florida to drop the charges against the teen.

"It's a grave injustice, and they know it," Arroyo said. "The facts of this case and the evidence in this case do not support the charge that he is facing."

On May 19, 2023, Aguilar Mendez was on the phone with his mother outside the Motel 8 building where he was staying when Sgt. Michael Kunovich, an officer with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office in St. Augustine, Florida, approached the teen, according to Arroyo.