Death penalty sought in killing

Bill Gang

Friday, Dec. 10, 1999 | 10:25 a.m.

When Fernando Hernandez was stopped following a high-speed chase near Searchlight in October, he blurted out to a Metro Police officer, "Just shoot me, just kill me. I killed her," according to testimony at his preliminary hearing.

On Thursday, prosecutors announced they will work toward that end by seeking the death penalty for the 38-year-old man who is charged with murdering his wife despite the court-issued protective orders against him.

Hernandez has pleaded not guilty, and his April 24 trial date in District Judge Sally Loehrer's courtroom was postponed Thursday until July 10 to give his attorneys time to prepare for a penalty hearing that will result if Hernandez is convicted of first-degree murder.

At the time he was arrested, Hernandez had his 3-year-old daughter in the car with him. Sgt. David Swoboda said the girl told him, "Daddy hurt mommy real bad."

The statement and the defendant's admission led police to the home of Donna Hernandez in the 2400 block of Clifton Court in Las Vegas, where they discovered the 38-year-old woman's bloody body.

She had been stabbed numerous times, strangled and bludgeoned.

Her volatile separation from her husband had prompted Donna Hernandez to obtain temporary and extended protective orders from the Clark County Family Court, where she worked as a court clerk.

But the orders couldn't save her life on Oct. 6.

To justify seeking the death penalty, Deputy District Attorney Eric Jorgenson alleged that the murder of Donna Hernandez was committed during a burglary and attempted kidnapping of the couple's daughter.

Court documents filed by Jorgenson claim that Hernandez "had previously threatened to kill Donna Hernandez and kidnap their child and take her to Mexico."

The prosecutor noted that when the defendant was apprehended, he was headed south on U.S. 95 in the direction of Mexico.