Kin of Mexican teen shot by Border Patrol agent to sue over death

By Adriana M. Chávez and Daniel Borunda \ El Paso Times
Posted: 01/15/2011 12:00:00 AM MST

Lawyers for the family of a Juárez teenager shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in June have announced plans to file a lawsuit in federal court on Monday.

Sergio AdrÃ*an Hernández Güereca, 15, was shot and killed on June 7 by the agent, whose name has not be released by the agency.

Border Patrol officials said the agent fired after coming under attack by people throwing rocks near the Paso del Norte Bridge in Downtown El Paso.

Hernández died on the Mexican side of the river of a bullet wound to the head.

The agent was placed on regular duty a few days after the shooting. He has not been charged with wrongdoing, but the U.S. Justice Department launched a civil-rights investigation soon after the shooting.

"Even now, it feels like it was yesterday," the teen's father, Jesus Hernández, said Friday.

"There should be justice within the law," Jesus Hernández said. "We've done everything (authorities asked). We want my son's record cleared of all the lies. We want the American authorities to truly work and do their job."

The teen's family described him as a student who stayed out of trouble. But U.S. law enforcement officials said AdrÃ*an Hernández had a criminal record for guiding undocumented immigrants across the border.

The lawsuit against the U.S. government and other federal agencies, including the U.S. Border Patrol and the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, will be filed by attorneys Bob Hilliard of Corpus Christi and Cristóbal Galindo of Houston on behalf of Sergio Hernández's parents, Maria Guadalupe Güereca and Jesus Hernández.
"When did we start allowing Border Patrol agents to shoot across the border and kill an unarmed teenager?" Galindo asked in a news release. "Sergio was like many young teens in Mexico. He loved to play soccer and wanted to one day become a soldier or police officer. The family deserves answers as to why the boy had his life cut short by a U.S. law enforcement official."

On a cell-phone video of the incident, a Border Patrol agent is seen arriving on a bicycle. As the agent attempts to detain a man on the U.S. side of the river, someone on the Mexican side of the river begins throwing rocks at him. On the video, the agent is seen pointing his handgun, and then three gunshots are heard. Sergio Hernández can then be seen lying on the ground on the Mexican side. The video doesn't show who was throwing rocks.

"The agent raised his firearm, intentionally and methodically took aim at an unarmed 15-year-old boy standing on Mexican soil and then pulled the trigger. Twice," Hilliard said in the news release. "The second bullet hit Sergio between the eyes, killing him."

Doug Mosier, spokesman for the Border Patrol's El Paso sector, declined to comment on the expected suit.

Hilliard and Galindo will have a news conference in Corpus Christi on Monday afternoon to talk about details of the lawsuit, a spokeswoman for Hiliard said Friday.

Adriana M. Chávez may be reached at achavez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6117.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_17100598