Florida middle school killer dies in prison at 31 May 3, 2021 at 8:26 AM EDT - Updated May 3 at 10:11 AM
The teenage killer who lured a friend into a bathroom stall at their suburban Miami middle school 17 years ago and cut his throat has died in prison.
Florida Department of Corrections online records show Michael Hernandez, 31, died Thursday. He had been incarcerated at Columbia Correctional Institute, about 50 miles west of Jacksonville. No cause of death was released, but WFOR-TV said Hernandez was seen on video collapsing, and no foul play is suspected.
Hernandez was serving a life sentence for the February 2004 murder of Jaime Gough when they were both 14-year-old students at Southwood Middle School in Palmetto Bay, just outside Miami.
CDC Survey: Distrust Likely To Keep Majority Of Florida Prisoners From Getting COVID-19 Vaccine
By Alex DeLuca
May 3, 2021
When Jose Valentin learned he’d have the opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, he wrestled over whether or not to get it.
Valentin, who is incarcerated at Tomoka Correctional Institution in Daytona Beach, said he feels lucky to be offered the potentially life-saving shot; he knows many people across the world still lack access to it. But after weighing the decision, he ultimately refused it.
“They don’t want us in society,” Valentin, 46, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1998 for first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery, wrote in an email, “so why do you want us healthy in here?”
One of the deputies, Dane Minor, reported in a probable cause affidavit that he walked up to the passenger side window and began talking to Ellis when he detected the smell of burned marijuana, saw a baggie with a white substance, and saw a bag on the passenger seat he suspected of containing drugs.
Deputies were already suspicious, saying they saw him moving around in the car as if he was trying to hide something while coming to a slow stop.
While other deputies were trying to remove Ellis from the car, he put the car in gear and sped off with the deputy’s upper body still inside the vehicle.
A teenage killer who murdered a classmate at their suburban Miami middle school 17 years ago has died in prison.
Michael Hernandez, 31, died on Thursday, according to the Florida Department of Corrections, which did not give a cause of death.
WFOR-TV reported that Hernandez died from a drug overdose, citing unnamed sources.
It said he was seen on video collapsing and that no foul play is suspected in his death.
He had been incarcerated at Columbia Correctional Institute, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Jacksonville.
Hernandez was serving a life sentence for the February 2004 murder of Jaime Gough when they were both 14-year-old students at Southwood Middle School in Palmetto Bay, just outside Miami.
Nation/World
Associated Press
LONDON – Britain rushed to increase aid for India s teetering health care system Sunday, promising more ventilators and expert advice as doctors grapple with a surge in coronavirus infections that is killing thousands of people a day.
The U.K. government said it will send an additional 1,000 ventilators to India. In addition, England s National Health Service, which has battled one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in Europe, is creating an advisory group to share its expertise with Indian authorities.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans a video meeting with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, on Tuesday to discuss further cooperation between the two countries, the U.K. government said in statement.