A 15-year-old boy in Texas has been arrested and charged with the murder of 17-year-old Kaitlin Hernandez, whose body was found in a ditch on March 12th. Hernandez had been reported missing after she went for a walk with a male friend, who was initially interviewed by police but not charged due to a lack of evidence. However, DNA analysis later linked the male friend to Hernandez's death, leading to his arrest.
In a tragic development, a 15-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with the murder of 17-year-old Kaitlin Hernandez in San Antonio, Texas. Hernandez's body was discovered in a ditch on March 12th, just hours after she had been reported missing by her family.
According to the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), Hernandez had gone for a walk with a male friend around 7:30 p.m. on March 12th. When she failed to return home later that evening, her family became concerned and reported her missing. Authorities immediately launched a search, which led to the discovery of her body in a ditch without any clothing on.
Investigators were able to make an arrest after DNA from the victim matched that of the person last seen with her. The SAPD said in a statement that the juvenile suspect was taken into custody without incident, and that the investigation is ongoing.
When Hernandez first went missing, her family attempted to contact her by phone, but she did not answer. They later received a call from an unknown man who claimed to have found her phone in a drainage ditch and returned it to them at a convenience store. This man reportedly cooperated with the investigation.
Officers searched the area where the man reported finding Hernandez's phone and discovered her body, which showed signs of strangulation and a possible sexual assault. The Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office later confirmed that Hernandez's cause of death was strangulation.
Authorities initially interviewed the male friend who Hernandez had been with that evening, but there was not enough evidence to bring charges against him at the time. However, as the investigation progressed, "it became apparent" to police that the male friend was the suspect. They obtained DNA samples from both the victim and the suspect and sent them to the Bexar County Crime Lab. The results of the DNA analysis linked the suspect to the victim.
"Based on DNA and other evidence, the suspect was arrested and taken into custody without incident. This is an active and ongoing investigation," the SAPD said.
Crystal Rodriguez, Hernandez's aunt, told FOX 29 San Antonio that the suspect was someone her niece knew. "It was someone she knew. Someone she played with," she said. "Someone she trusted. We knew him for years. And now it has affected all our nieces and nephews. My children, mentally, can't trust their own friends. They don't know what they did to my family."
Rodriguez added that she was losing hope, but that detectives were working tirelessly to solve the case. "They responded to everything, every question we had so I know they were working hard on this case," she said. "But whenever I got the call, I just fell to my knees because y'all got him off the streets, but Kaitlin can't come back."
According to Rodriguez, Hernandez was a "loving" and "kind" girl with "a lot of dreams." She was set to graduate high school this spring. "Kaitlin didn't hate anybody. Nobody that we're aware of hated Kaitlin," Rodriguez said. "She just got baptized last year. She was getting more involved into God. She was going to church. She loved and cared for animals. She was going to be a veterinarian after she graduated."
The arrest of the 15-year-old suspect provides a glimmer of hope for Hernandez's family, but it cannot bring back their beloved daughter and sister. The investigation into her death continues, and the family is urging anyone with information to come forward.
