In loving memory
Funeral service honors 24-year-old who died after struggle at Denny’s
Mourners — many wearing T-shirts with John Hernandez’s image under the words “In Loving Memory” — console one another after Hernandez’s funeral Saturday at St. Dominic Catholic Church. Deputy Chauna Thompson and her husband, Terry, have been charged in Hernandez’s death.
The 24-year-old Crosby man whose death after an altercation at a Denny’s led to murder charges against a sheriff ’s deputy and her husband was buried Saturday as family and friends gathered to remember him.
The family of John Hernandez appeared somber as they left St. Dominic Catholic Church after the service. They surrounded the casket as it was lifted into the hearse while other family and friends gathered nearby wearing shirts that read “In loving memory of John Hernandez.”
Melissa Hernandez described her cousin as caring and giving.
“That’s what everyone should always remember about him,” she said, adding that she hoped the family would finally be able to put the tragedy to rest.
Ignacio Hernandez said he was extremely sad about the death of his son and overwhelmed by the support of the community.
John Hernandez’s death led to murder charges against Chauna Thompson, 45, a Harris County sheriff’s deputy, and her husband, Terry. They are out on bail.
The altercation began after Terry Thompson pulled up at the restaurant with his children and saw Hernandez urinating in public, the sheriff said.
A 50-second video shows Thompson on top of a kicking and grunting Hernandez. A witness said she saw Hernandez turning purple and tried to get Thompson to let him go, but he refused.
Hernandez died May 31, three days later, from strangulation and chest compressions, the medical examiner ruled.
Scot Courtney, a defense attorney representing Thompson, has said Hernandez initiated the late-night altercation by throwing, and landing, the first punch.
He said Thompson did not intend to kill the man.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office declined to discuss the charges further except to say that Chauna Thompson was charged under the law of parties, a state law that allows every person who is involved in an intentional crime to be charged with the same offense.