He died about four hours after the shooting, according to Emma Infante, Hernandez\u2019s mother. She said he wasn\u2019t taken to a hospital for about an hour after he was shot, and she said others in the apartment could have helped save his life.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Detectives) already got the shooter, and they don\u2019t want to investigate more. There were more people,\u201d the 34-year-old said. \u201cThere were more adults. They got rid of the firearm. They left my son there to pretty much die on his own, and they\u2019re still not being looked at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police announced the next day they had arrested a 13-year-old for the fatal shooting, saying the incident was a manslaughter case and not a homicide. His attorney declined a request for comment from The Fresno Bee citing the sensitive nature of juvenile cases.<\/p>\n
The teen agreed to a plea deal for involuntary manslaughter that was finalized in a hearing at the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Center held by juvenile court Judge Amythest Freeman on Friday. The teen was remanded to 365 days in the New Horizons Program<\/a>, a rehabilitation program at the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Center.<\/p>\n Infante said she believes the investigation should have been more thorough, pointing to a case that appears to have come to an end in less than three months and has not led to the arrest of anyone else at the apartment on the day of the shooting.<\/p>\n \u201cHours later, the kid showed up saying that he was the shooter,\u201d she said. \u201cHow do you know that he was actually the one who did it, and he didn\u2019t do it for someone, or he wasn\u2019t influenced by someone? (A) lot of things could have happened, but they are just going based on what he said, and they\u2019re leaving it at that.\u201d<\/p>\n The judge noted that the arrest and custody of the 13-year-old does not necessarily mean police are not investigating other potential suspects.<\/p>\n Discussing the facts in a juvenile case can be difficult for prosecutors, because state law provides more privacy protections to young offenders than to adults, according to Taylor Long, spokesperson for the Fresno County District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n She said prosecutors \u201crespect their grief and frustration\u201d and understand the family has experienced a great loss. She noted the office made its charging decision on the evidence in the Fresno Police Department case.<\/p>\n \u201cThat charging decision reflected the evidence available to our office, which did not establish the intent required for a murder charge,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are ethically obligated to make charging decisions based on the evidence and the law.\u201d<\/p>\n Many cases involving a minor can linger for months if not years as a teen may need to face a transfer hearing, which decides if they can be charged as an adult, and other factors not seen in adult cases. Teens must be 14 or older before prosecutors can pursue an adult charge.<\/p>\n The Hernandez case involved a 13-year-old who admitted to firing the gun, saying it was an accident, according to attorneys at the disposition hearing, which is the juvenile version of a sentencing.<\/p>\n Fresno police investigated the case thoroughly, according to Lt. Larry Bowlan, a department spokesperson.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Fresno Police Department Homicide Unit spent hundreds of hours investigating this crime. They also interviewed dozens of people and served multiple search warrants during the follow-up to this death investigation,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cIf further information about the incident becomes available in the future, those details will also be provided to the appropriate prosecuting agency.\u201d<\/p>\n Infante was joined at the center Friday by a number of supporters before and during the hearing, including several who have had family killed<\/a> by a youthful offender. They are part of a network of people looking to overturn Proposition 57, which was adopted by voters in 2016. Many of them say the state law prevents them from getting justice because the sentences of young offenders are significantly shorter than adults.<\/p>\n Advocates for Prop 57 said it would amend the state constitution to allow parole consideration for nonviolent felons, and opponents argued it would endanger public safety through an early release of offenders convicted of violent crimes such as rape and assault with a deadly weapon.<\/p>\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t deserve this. He was so nice\u201d<\/p>\n Infante smiled as she remembered her son, saying he never had a disrespectful teenage phase, was known to always be there for his friends and couldn\u2019t resist helping a stray animal.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the type of stuff that you would hear about Edgar, and it breaks my heart because I\u2019m, like, he was so nice,\u201d she said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t deserve this. He was so nice.\u201d<\/p>\n Hernandez had attended Sunnyside High and was in an automotive technology program at Fresno City College. Infante held back tears as she recounted all the goals he had set for himself, like his plans to also study business so he could own his own car shop.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Mom, I\u2019m going to do that. Mom, one day I\u2019m going to have my own business,\u2019\u201c she said. \u201cAnd he had a lot of plans that we were supposed to do. All that\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n Demonstrators hold posters as they gather outside the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Center on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, to push for a stiffer sentence for a 13-year-old who was sentenced to a year in the involuntary manslaughter case in which 19-year-old Edgar Hernandez was killed. THADDEUS MILLER tmiller@fresnobee.com
Demonstrators gather outside the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Center on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, to push for a stiffer sentence for a 13-year-old who was sentenced to a year in the involuntary manslaughter case in which 19-year-old Edgar Hernandez was killed. THADDEUS MILLER tmiller@fresnobee.com
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