Grand jury doesn’t indict SAPD officer that shot, killed 13-year-old
Kimiya Factory, founder and executive director of Black Freedom Factory, holds up a sign in view of oncoming traffic during a rally held for 13-year-old Andre “AJ” Hernandez outside San Antonio police headquarters on July 2022.
Josie Norris, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer
A San Antonio police officer that shot and killed a 13-year-old boy in June 2022 will not receive any criminal charges despite the family’s calls for justice. A Bexar County grand jury chose not to indict San Antonio police officer Stephen Ramos in the shooting death of Andre “AJ” Hernandez, according to an announcement from District Attorney Joe Gonzales office on Thursday, February 16.
Criminal charges were sought for Ramos, who shot and killed Hernandez on June 3, 2022, when the 13-year-old reversed a vehicle that was reported stolen out of a residential driveway and hit a police cruiser, according to police accounts. An officer was reportedly about to step out of his vehicle but pulled his leg in as the vehicle driven by Hernandez approached.
Police accounts say Hernandez hit the door of the police cruiser and that is when Ramos fired into the vehicle, which police are prohibited from doing unless they are facing deadly force.
Andre “AJ” Hernandez celebrated his 13th birthday.
Courtesy of the Hernandez family
Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney representing Hernandez’s family at the time, told NBC News that he reviewed body cam footage that told a different story. Merritt said Hernandez actually pulled forward into the police cruiser and that the impact was more of a bump than a crash, and that footage showed Hernandez exit the vehicle with his hands up saying that he had been hit by gunfire.
Hernandez was struck in the abdomen and taken to University Hospital where he later died.
“Our system of justice is based on citizen input, yet nothing can repair the pain and loss that AJ Hernandez’s family has endured,” Gonzales said in the announcement. “A young boy was tragically lost on that day and we know that no mother should ever have to bury their child.”
The announcement also says that grand jury’s decision concludes the investigation into the shooting.
