By Safia Samee Ali -
NBC News
Lynda Espinoza's 13-year-old son was killed by a San Antonio police officer, and she says it took five days for the department to call her to say her son was dead.
Espinoza said he learned that an officer had killed his son, Andre Hernandez Jr., because he collected news articles about a police shooting of a young man in his neighborhood around the time the teen was killed.
"I really don't understand what the police are hiding," he said.
"My son was 13 years old. That's the key. He was a little boy and he didn't deserve to be shot and killed by a police officer."
Andre Hernandez Jr., 13, was shot dead by a San Antonio police officer. Lynda Espinoza via NBC News.
The trooper finally called Espinoza Tuesday night after they were contacted by NBC News and the woman appeared on local news stations.
He was informed that he would be allowed to view a partial police body camera footage of the encounter with his son next Monday morning, he said.
"I don't know what I should do when I see it, but I want to see why my son was shot," he said.
Just two weeks earlier, Espinoza had laid vigil for her 16-year-old daughter, Naveah Martinez, who was found shot to death on May 10 in a stolen car near the family home.
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The most recent tragedy for Espinoza occurred around 1:20 a.m. Friday, when Andre died.
Police allege that a young man intentionally collided with a stolen car into a police vehicle, prompting an officer to fire at the vehicle to prevent it from crashing again.
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San Antonio police Capt. Jesse Salame said Friday that officers were responding to a shooting in the area when they spotted a red car that matched the description of a vehicle seen in the area of the shooting.
When police approached the car Andre was driving and containing two other teens, the boy backed up and hit another patrol car behind him, he added.
Fearing the officers would be hit again, an officer in the first patrol car fired once at the fleeing vehicle, killing the boy, police said.
After being shot, the young man got out of the car to turn himself in, police said.
He was treated by paramedics and taken to a nearby hospital, where he died.
Andre Hernandez Jr. Lynda Espinoza via NBC News
Police said the officer involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative duty until further notice and no officers or passengers in the vehicle were injured.
Authorities in San Antonio have not publicly identified the victim, saying in a statement that "due to his age, we are prohibited by law from releasing the name of the suspect, and any video/reports associated with this suspect/incident," but They assured on Wednesday morning that "the mother of the suspect has been contacted and we are working with her to communicate the next steps of the investigation process."
Espinoza assured that “it was not justified” that they took five days to contact her after the shooting.
He said he was told at the hospital that his son had been shot, but was given only minimal time to see him before "they put him in a body bag and took him away".
He has not yet received any medical report or documentation.
After Espinoza read reports that police had killed a 13-year-old boy, he analyzed the information and went to visit the scene of his death on Friday.
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After speaking with an eyewitness, according to the mother, the police account “didn't add up”.
A neighbor who livestreamed the aftermath of the shooting on Facebook said he saw police pulling the boy out of the vehicle, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
"Instead of trying to apply pressure, he's pulling it out, and he's still trying to record it," Jesse Hernandez, who saw the incident, reported to the newspaper and to Andre's mother.
“The little guy said something like, 'Not so hard, officer, please.
It hurts,'” he said.
"'Don't be so abrupt. It hurts, officer.'"
Police kept telling the boy to "stop moving" and "let us help him," the Express-News reported.
Hernandez told the newspaper that he saw no blood from the wound due to the boy's clothing and that he saw "little to no damage to the front of the car," he reported.
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He claimed his video was removed from Facebook shortly after posting it, according to the Express-News.
NBC News has not seen the video.
Espinoza also claimed that the witness told him that officers were slow to call an ambulance and that his son was handcuffed after he was shot — a point disputed by police, who said the boy was not handcuffed until he was placed in a car. the emergency services stretcher.
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André died at the end of the street where his sister was killed, according to Espinoza.
The mother claimed that Andre had become isolated and left home after his sister's funeral on May 20, which was also the last time she saw him.
She reported him missing to the authorities, but later his friends let her know that he was with them.
"I don't pretend that my son was an angel, as he was dealing with the loss of his sister. After my daughter died, he wouldn't come home and he started to get confused."
"He still deserves justice," said the mother.
Ebonie Hernandez, the young man's aunt, who traveled to San Antonio from Chicago to attend her niece's funeral, said she saw her nephew change in the days after her sister's death.
"When I visited him seven months ago, we had a great time watching movies together. He was a good boy," she said.
"It's just, you know, kids get confused, and he was grieving. They're young, they get into a new group, and instead of being the leader that he was, he decided to follow other kids, and he got involved in a bad situation".
