On May 31, 2017, John Hernandez was murdered by Terry Thompson during a fight outside a restaurant in Sheldon, Texas, part of the Greater Houston area. During the altercation, Thompson's wife, Chauna Thompson, a Harris County Sheriff's deputy, arrived and called for assistance. Bystander videos showed Terry Thompson placing Hernandez in a chokehold until he lost consciousness, while Chauna Thompson helped pin Hernandez down. Hernandez died in the hospital three days later from his injuries.[1]
Terry Thompson was convicted of murder in 2018 and sentenced to 25 years in prison;[2] charges against Chauna Thompson were dropped in 2019.[3]
Incident
On May 28, 2017, Terry Thompson and his children pulled into the parking lot of a Denny's restaurant in the 17700 block of Crosby Freeway in east Harris County, Texas, with their children.[4] They encountered John Hernandez, who investigators determined was urinating in public. Thompson yelled at Hernandez to stop,[5] and a physical fight broke out around 11:40pm.[6] It wasn't clear which party initiated the altercation.[5] Chauna Thompson – wife of Terry Thompson and a Harris County Sheriff's deputy – arrived, off-duty, to meet her family. She noticed the altercation and called for assistance from the sheriff's office.[7][8]
Terry Thompson held Hernandez in a reverse chokehold while lying on top of Hernandez, while Chauna Thompson pinned him down.[9][5] A witness also described Terry Thompson punching Hernandez in the head while holding him down.[10] On June 5, 2017, the attorney for Hernandez's family, Jack Carroll, released a video of the incident recorded on a bystander's cellphone.[11] The 52-second video shows Terry Thompson holding Hernandez in a chokehold while Chauna Thompson pins Hernandez down.[12] It also shows other bystanders trying to block the videographer as well as telling the videographer that recording the altercation was illegal, with one bystander commenting that Chauna Thompson was a sheriff's deputy and she could arrest him for filming.[12] Under Texas law, videotaping others without their permission in most public spaces when not for sexual purposes is not illegal.[13]
Death
Hernandez was rushed to Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital,[14] where he was placed on life support and slipped into a coma.[15] He died three days later at the age of 24 when his life support was removed.[1][16] The cause of death was ruled by the Harris County medical examiner as lack of oxygen and chest compression caused by strangulation and ruled the death a homicide.[17]
People involved
The victim, John Hernandez, was the common-law husband of Maria Toral, with whom he shared a daughter.[18]
The perpetrator, Terry Thompson, 41, is married to Chauna Thompson.[19] Chauna Thompson was at the time a sheriff's deputy of the Harris County Sheriff's Department.[20]
Immediate aftermath
An investigation was begun by the Harris County District Attorney's Office.[7] Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced that the department's internal affairs unit was looking into the incident.[21][22] Family and friends of Hernandez held public demonstrations asking for an arrest.[21]
Chauna Thompson was placed on administrative leave by the sheriff's office on June 6, 2017.[23][13] Upon the conclusion of the office's investigation, Chauna Thompson was fired in June 2017, and three other sheriffs faced disciplinary action.[22]
Trial
Terry Thompson's first trial ended on June 24, 2018, when the judge declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a verdict, in spite of over 29 hours of deliberation.[24]
At retrial, Terry Thompson was found guilty of murder on November 5, 2018.[25] On November 7, he was handed a prison sentence of 25 years.[2]
The charges against Chauna Thompson were dropped in 2019 because prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to prove she committed a crime.[3]
