SAN ANTONIO – The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office has released new videos of the scene in which an officer shot and killed a teen on June 3, 2022.
San Antonio police said 13-year-old Andre “AJ” Hernandez was driving a stolen car that rammed into a police cruiser in the 5100 block of War Cloud Street.
The videos released include dash camera footage from each of the three responding officers and the body-worn camera of the officer whose vehicle was hit by Andre Hernandez.
SAPD officers Stephen Ramos and Nicholas Espinoza were responding to calls from three residents of the Indian Creek community about gunshots fired just after 1 a.m. Jose Claire was assigned as a backup.
According to the District Attorney’s Office Memorandum For Record, Officer Claire reported “... there are three cars blocking the roadway here on War Horse... and they’re all taking off now.”
Officer Espinoza pursued a red Toyota, and Espinoza and Ramos boxed the vehicle in, both with lights flashing, according to the D.A.’s office investigation.
The video from Officer Stephen Ramos’ dashcam shows the moment the teen driver reverses away from his vehicle, and then drives forward, ramming into Espinoza’s cruiser.
According to the D.A.’s office, this is when Ramos fired one round at Andre.
“…saw Officer Espinoza getting out of his vehicle. As Officer Espinoza was getting out of the vehicle, I saw the vehicle accelerated directly towards Officer Espinoza. I believed that Officer Espinoza was standing at the driver’s side door of his patrol car when the driver accelerated towards him. At this time, I believed the driver of the vehicle was using his vehicle as a deadly weapon to attempt to kill Officer Espinoza. I fired one shot at the driver of the vehicle to stop the threat to Officer Espinoza,” Ramos told investigators, according to the D.A.’s report.
Ramos’ dashcam shows him slightly out of frame with the weapon in his hand. Andre is then seen exiting his vehicle, putting his hands to his face and falling to the ground.
Two other people are shown in the car with their hands up.
A second angle from Espinoza’s dash shows Ramos jumping out of his vehicle with a gun in hand.
In Espinoza’s body-worn camera video, one of the occupants yells “AJ” before the second officer’s camera blurs, and only audio continues to be heard.
Espinoza is seen detaining the backseat passenger who yelled “AJ.” That person is then heard asking if someone could call Andre’s family. He repeatedly asks the officer for his phone.
“Please grab my phone, sir,” the person tells Espinoza.
In the video, Espinoza calls out to Officer Claire who detains the front-seat passenger.
“Detain that one right there! Hey, he threw that bag over there,” Espinoza shouts.
The person who the second officer was detaining says, “Can you call his sister, please? His family, sir. Please, call his family!” before the video ends.
A Bexar County grand jury no-billed Ramos on Feb. 16, 2023.
District Attorney Joe Gonzales said the jury concluded its review of San Antonio police officer Stephen Ramos before returning the no-bill of the indictment.
“The Grand Jury represents the citizens of Bexar County during the first step of the legal process. Our office trusts these citizens in their determination to serve the interests of justice and respects their determination,” Gonzales said in a written statement. “Our system of justice is based on citizen input, yet nothing can repair the pain and loss that AJ Hernandez’s family has endured. A young boy was tragically lost on that day and we know that no mother should ever have to bury their child.”
KSAT Investigates discovered last year that Andre was arrested in April 2022 in Kinney County on seven charges of human smuggling and evading arrest with a vehicle.