A civil jury has found two Chicago police officers and the city liable for the shooting death of a 21-year-old father who was killed in 2014 during a mental health crisis.
Hector Hernandez was shot 13 times at his girlfriend’s home in the 2500 block of West 50th by former CPD officers Patrick Kelly and Antonio Corral.
Hernandez’s two children will be awarded $742,500, according to Romanucci & Blandin, LLC, the law firm representing the family.
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The award would have been higher but the jury found the officers carried 55% of the fault in the incident and Hernandez 45%, according to the family’s lawyers.
“As we approach the 8-year anniversary of Hector’s death, his young children continue to grieve the loss of their father,” said Antonio M. Romanucci, Founding Partner of Romanucci & Blandin, LLC, in a statement. “Today’s verdict provides a measure of justice for the family but can never replace the loss of a father who was truly loved. This young man in crisis needed to be met with help and human compassion, not aggression and weapons.”
On April 7, 2014, Hernandez was set to take one of his children to Chuck E. Cheese when he and his girlfriend began arguing and police were called to the scene, the family’s lawyers said.
When officers arrived, they surrounded Hernandez as he was experiencing an acute mental health crisis and holding a kitchen knife to his neck, threatening to harm himself.
When Hernandez tried to move away from the officers, Kelly and Corral opened fire, shooting him 13 times and 8 times in the back, the family’s lawyers said. Hernandez died at the scene.
The city’s law department had “no comment,” on the case.
