Teen accused of murdering 17-year-old expected in juvenile court on Monday

The teen, who was 15 at the time of his arrest, is accused of killing Hernandez in March. Her body was found in a ditch near her San Antonio home.

SAN ANTONIO — A teen accused of murdering 17-year-old Kaitlin Hernandez earlier this year is expected in juvenile court on Monday. The suspect, who was 15 at the time of his arrest, allegedly killed the teen in March. 

Her body was found in a ditch not far from her home in northeast San Antonio. 

Monday’s hearing is what’s called a certify and transfer hearing. In Texas, the prosecutor will ask the juvenile court to waive its original jurisdiction in order to try the defendant as an adult.

The judge will have a final say on whether to approve this request.

This hearing is over a capital murder charge the suspect is facing in the death of Hernandez.

On March 12,  Hernandez’s family told police she left their home on Dell Oak Drive to go for a walk with the suspect. She never came home.

Her body was found hours later, dumped in a nearby drainage ditch

The medical examiner says she died by strangulation. At the time, police said there wasn’t enough evidence to connect the teen suspect to the crime. 

But six weeks later, he was arrested and charged in the murder after DNA evidence results connected the boy to the case.

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