Dallas: Brother of victim from R.L. Turner hurt; driver, 16, is detained

By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News

For the second time since December, counselors were called in Wednesday to comfort students at Carrollton's R. L. Turner High School after a fatal traffic accident.

Jesus Hernandez, 16, a ninth-grader, died early Wednesday after he was thrown from a 1995 Ford Mustang that witnesses said was traveling at least 100 mph. At 11 p.m. Tuesday, four youths were northbound on Stemmons Freeway when the sports car's driver, also 16, lost control and the vehicle tumbled down an embankment near Glenda Lane.

The driver and another 16-year-old passenger ran from the scene of the crash. Authorities caught up with the driver at RHD Memorial Medical Center in Farmers Branch, where he was being treated for minor injuries, police said. He was not identified because he is a minor, but police said he was being detained on two felony counts of failure to stop and render aid, as well as a charge of criminally negligent homicide.

Also in the back seat, but not ejected, was Jesus' brother, Valentin Hernandez, 12. He was taken to Children's Medical Center Dallas with broken arms and a head injury, his family and authorities said.

Relatives said they knew the Hernandez boys were out with friends but didn't know where they had been Tuesday night.

"He liked hanging out with friends," said Jesus' sister, Mirna, 14. "He liked fixing stuff, radios and computers."

Mirna had heard about the December death of Derek Elizondo, 14, an R. L. Turner student who was flung out the back of a pickup, but she "didn't think it could happen to my family."

On Dec. 12, Derek was riding with five other youths in the back of a truck in the 1700 block of Cox Street in Carrollton when the driver, 17, lost control. The truck flipped over, and Derek suffered head injuries. He died six days later at Parkland Memorial Hospital.

The driver faces charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.