Video footage captures the horrifying moment a 13-year-old San Antonio kid was fatally shot by police, just days after a grand jury failed to indict the officer who fired the pistol, despite the officer having murdered a man a year before and being accused of being a “trigger-happy hothead.”
Andre ‘AJ’ Hernandez, according to police, was driving a stolen Toyota Corolla on June 3 when he allegedly slammed the vehicle into reverse and struck the approaching officers, putting their lives in danger.
The Hernandez family asserts that the automobile could not have been traveling fast enough, nor would the officers have been unable to identify the passengers as children.
Officer Stephen Ramos, who was responding with a partner to allegations of gunshots involving the red vehicle, fired once, striking Hernandez in the abdomen while he was riding in the vehicle with two other boys. Hernandez died after being transferred to the hospital.
The footage depicts Ramos’ colleague, named only as ‘Espinoza,’ having to drag his leg back inside the vehicle before to Hernandez’s impact. The San Antonio police believe Hernandez endangered Espinoza’s life.
Around 1:18 a.m. on June 3, the cops and a third officer simply identified as “Officer Claire” were dispatched to the site.
The shooting occurs within the following 10 minutes. They approach the scene on War Cloud Street around 1:21 a.m.
Espinoza begins to exit the driver’s side of the vehicle at 1:22 a.m., while Ramos urges Espinoza, “Don’t let him ram you!”
Espinoza unlocks the driver-side door, places his left leg outside the doorstop, and demands to see the children’s hands.
He then pulls his left leg back into the vehicle as the door slams shut and Hernandez’s Corolla collides with the police vehicle.
Ramos noted in a report, “At the moment, I assumed the vehicle’s driver was attempting to murder Officer Espinoza with his automobile as a lethal weapon.” I fired a single shot at the vehicle’s driver to end the threat to Officer Espinoza.
Moments later, Ramos exits the vehicle, draws his firearm, and fires a shot while telling dispatch.
Hernandez exits the vehicle, exclaims “I’m shot, sir,” and collapses on the ground. He was ultimately transferred to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A passenger of Hernandez then begs Ramos to phone Hernandez’s family: “Take my phone!” Please retrieve my phone, sir. Kindly notify his relatives! Sir!’
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales’ office issued the following statement: ‘It was reasonable for Officer Ramos to assume that Officer Espinoza was standing outside of his car and, as a result, was threatened with deadly force by the red Toyota as it sped towards him.’
The district attorney’s office claimed that Ramos fired Espinoza to shield her from ‘unjustified harm.’
The county’s investigation is based on statements as well as dashboard and body cameras from the car Ramos and Espinoza were traveling in. Ramos’ body camera was not utilized, and the county did not provide an explanation.
But, Hernandez’s family and attorney Lee Merritt have maintained that the vehicle was never travelling at a speed sufficient to cause serious injury to Espinoza.
According to the San Antonio Express News, they also claim that anyone might have seen that Hernandez and two other children were inside the stolen vehicle.
“We’re talking about a 13-year-old boy who was slain by police,” his mother, Lynda Espinoza – who appeared to be unrelated to the unidentified officer – said in a protest immediately following the incident.
According to Oxygen, AJ’s 16-year-old sister Naveah Martinez was shot and killed just a few blocks from the family’s house three weeks earlier.
According to Hernandez’s mother, he had left the house because he was so distraught.
Lynda Espinoza stated, “I just listed him as a runaway since he didn’t want to come with me or listen.” Therefore, I did what was expected of a mother.
Despite what had occurred, the family wanted others to see her son’s humanity even back then.
AJ’s aunt Stephanie Martinez remarked, “He was a 13-year-old boy who deeply mourned the loss of his sister, with whom he was very close.” He was still a child and had not yet truly begun his life.
“I want people to know not to always believe what they hear and read; instead, they should wait for the facts to emerge… Wait till the truth is out before passing judgment on my nephew. Maybe, after you learn the truth, you will be able to help us and the family in our effort to obtain justice for my nephew.’
‘While our legal system is founded on citizen input, nothing will undo the suffering and grief AJ Hernandez’s family has undergone. On that day, a young boy passed quite sadly, and we recognize that no mother should have to mourn her child,’ said Criminal District Attorney Gonzales in a statement.
Officer Stephen Ramos has not been engaged in a fatal shooting for the first time.
In March of 2021, Ramos responded to reports of a man, identified as 57-year-old John Pena Montez, armed with a knife and threatening to kill himself over a disagreement with his common-law wife.
The partner of Ramos failed twice to subdue Montez with a stun gun. Family members reject the claim that Montez ‘lunged’ and brandished a knife at the policemen, as stated in the police report.
The officer then shot and killed Montez. After viewing body camera footage, Debra Montez Felder, Montez’s sister, completely contradicts this account.
She stated, “As soon as I saw it, I informed them it was unreasonable and unwarranted.” He was merely standing at the door. There was no justification for your shooting him.
Felder asserts that Ramos has a reputation for shooting his rifle unnecessarily.
She told NBC News, “SAPD and the DA’s office were aware that this man was a hothead and trigger-happy.” You were aware of it before to the murder of the 13-year-old boy.
She also stated that her veteran brother was experiencing a “mental health crisis” at the time. His wife contacted the police and a local hospital out of concern for his safety.
Felder stated that the shooting of Hernandez infuriated her even more, and she has continued her demand for the release of the body camera footage.
She remarked, “I’m angry because this child did not deserve it.” “SAPD knew this man was emotionally incapable of self-control; he is incapable of self-control, and it’s unreal.”
A month after the death of Hernandez, a grand jury also declined to indict Ramos for the shooting of Montez.
Ramos was placed on administrative leave following the shooting in March 2021, but returned to full duty by September following a probe by Internal Affairs. The footage from that shooting has not yet been made public.
Ramos’ present status within the police is unknown.
The notification by the district attorney’s office also states that the grand jury’s verdict finishes the shooting inquiry.
»Trigger-happy San Antonio cop shoot dead 13-year-old boy after he hijacked a car«