Family Of 13-Year-Old AJ Hernandez Killed By San Antonio Police Demands Officer Be Charged With Murder
An attorney representing the family of 13-year-old AJ Hernandez, who was shot and killed by San Antonio Police earlier this month, is sharing additional details on the deadly shooting and calling for action from prosecutors.
According to local station KENS, civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who is representing the teen’s family, says they sat down with SAPD to watch some of the bodycam video showing the shooting.
On the afternoon of June 3, SAPD say they responded to calls of multiple shots fired. Police say when attempting to stop a Toyota Corolla they believe was stolen in May, it crashed into an officer’s patrol vehicle. San Antonio police say an officer not involved in the crash fired a single shot into it after seeing what happened, the San Antonio Current reported. The family later identified Hernandez as the shooting victim.
Merritt disputes that the video shows a crash, saying that all the vehicles involved were not traveling faster than five miles per hour at any point during the incident.
“This was not a collision,” the noted lawyer said, according to the news station. “There was contact, but this was not a deadly threat, it was a little boy behind the wheel of the car, surprised there was not one, but two officers were behind him.”
SAPD claims the second officer on scene – identified as Stephen Ramos – feared the other officer would be struck by the vehicle and fired the single shot that hit Hernandez. Merritt says Officer Ramos gave no verbal warning before firing his gun.
“Within one second of Mr. Ramos exiting his vehicle, he had already fired upon the vehicle occupied by Mr. Hernandez,” Merritt said.
After he was shot, Merritt says the bodycam video shows Hernandez collapsing near the side of the car after getting out of the vehicle with his hands up.
"[Hernandez] then collapsed to the ground letting officers know, 'I have been shot sir,' they were telling him to keep his hands up and he says, 'I can't, I've been shot sir, please help,'" Merritt says.
Additionally, Merritt claims officers handcuffed Hernandez. SAPD says he was treated by on-scene officers until EMS arrived.
Lynda Espinoza, AJ’s mom, could not watch the video due to the difficulty of the situation, but called the whole thing “very traumatizing” and wants justice for her son.
It isn’t clear why Hernandez was driving the vehicle, which SAPD says was stolen almost two weeks prior to the shooting.
The family is asking Officer Ramos to be charged with murder. They say the case will be submitted to a grand jury after a meeting with prosecutors.
Merritt says they plan to file a civil suit within the next ten days against the City of San Antonio and Officer Ramos.
