The death of a man who was restrained by an off-duty Texas sheriff’s deputy and her husband during a late-night confrontation outside of a restaurant was ruled a homicide on Tuesday, and local authorities are asking state and federal departments to help investigate the incident.
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John Hernandez, 24, died of lack of oxygen to the brain caused by strangulation and chest compression, according to the Harris County medical examiner.
Investigators said the May 28 altercation started after Terry Thompson, the husband of Harris County deputy Shauna Thompson, became offended when he saw an allegedly intoxicated Hernandez urinate outside the Houston-area restaurant. They said Shauna Thompson helped her husband restrain Hernandez and that the incident ended with a motionless Hernandez being rushed to a hospital.
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He died three days later. The deputy has been placed on administrative leave.
“We ask for the immediate detention of Terry Thompson and his wife, who murdered John Hernandez in cold blood, in front of this Denny’s,” Cesar Espinoza, an immigrant activist said Tuesday on behalf of Hernandez’s family. “We will not stand by, while there’s no justice served.”
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“What we are requesting here now is charges for murder and for him to be brought to justice,” added Susanna Santana, a cousin of Hernandez. “This is not OK for anybody to suffer this loss and to die in this manner.”
Cellphone video that a bystander recorded of the incident has been released by the unidentified person’s lawyer and posted on local media websites. The footage shows a man lying on top of Hernandez. Jack Carroll, the attorney for the person who recorded the video, said the man restraining Hernandez used an illegal chokehold.
“First time I saw the video over the weekend I was pretty shocked,” Carroll said Monday. “It’s a very sad video because you are watching a man basically being killed.”
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Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said he has asked the Texas Rangers and the U.S. Department of Justice to assist in the investigation.
In a statement Tuesday, the sheriff’s office also said it has presented the findings of its investigation to the Harris County district attorney’s office.
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Randall Kallinen, an attorney for Hernandez’s family, said authorities should make arrests based on the medical examiner ruling and the bystander-recorded video of the confrontation.
Scot Courtney, an attorney for the Thompsons, said Hernandez was the aggressor.
— With files from Global News