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A charge of murder was dropped Wednesday against a former Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputy for her role in the strangling death of a man outside a Houston area Denny’s restaurant.
The charge — stemming from a grand jury indictment — against former deputy Chauna Thompson was dismissed because Harris County District’s Attorney’s Office prosecutors were unable to “prove beyond a reasonable doubt” that she committed a crime in the 2017 death of John Hernandez for which her husband was convicted, officials said.
“Our action today is based on the lack of evidence to convict somebody and our ethical obligation not to go forward,” First Assistant Tom Berg said in a statement. “To be clear, Ms. Thompson’s former employment as a deputy sheriff played no role in our decision to dismiss, just as it played no role in our original decision to present the case to a grand jury.”
Thompson was off-duty when her husband, Terry, confronted 24-year-old Hernandez for urinating outside the Sheldon diner along the Crosby Freeway and in front of the couple’s teenage daughter and her friends. Hernandez slugged Thompson’s railroad worker husband in the eye, prompting him to tackle the victim and place him in a choke-hold.
Cell phone footage of the May 28, 2017, incident appeared to show Thompson by her husband’s side, helping him restrain Hernandez. She then performed CPR on the unconscious man. The video sparked murder charges against the Thompsons and ignited protests in downtown Houston slamming racial inequality and the handling of the case.
Thompson was fired from the sheriff’s office in July 2017.
Her husband went through two trials — the first of which was declared a mistrial. In the second last November, Terry Thompson was convicted in Hernandez’s death . He is serving a 25-year prison sentence on a murder charge.
“We are pleased that after almost 2 years, the District Attorney was finally able to do the right thing in this case,” Greg Cagle, Thompson’s lawyer, said in an email. “No new facts have been discovered since the indictment in June 2017 and the dismissal is simply the confirmation that Deputy Thomson should never have been charged with a crime.”
The prosecutors met with Hernandez’s widow and parents before the decision to request the dismissal was made, according to district attorney’s office statement.
“We hope that sparing the Hernandez family the ordeal of a third trial will help them move on with their lives, though we know this does not bring back their loved one,” Berg said.
The family of Hernandez, including his parents Ignacio and Maria Hernandez, gathered Wednesday night in the parking lot where he was killed for a press conference in response to the dismissal.
“This is such a low blow,” said Melissa Hernandez, Hernandez’s cousin. “We were really hoping that the justice system was going to be on our side and get us the justice that John deserved.”
The cousin wished the authorities had continued prosecuting the case.
“We feel like they should have continued to try,” she said. “Someone like (Thompson) is supposed to protect and serve us should not have helped her husband.”
The press conference was led by FIEL executive director Cesar Espinosa, who has acted as a spokesman to the family since the 2017 killing. To the supporters of the Hernandez family, he asked that they respect the decision.
“Its a hard pill to swallow but I ASK that we center on what the family wants which is to close this dark chapter in their lives,” Espinosa wrote. “At the end Justice is subjective. The Hernandez Family will NEVER have true justice because this should have never (happened) to begin with. John should still be here… in the end whether on heaven or earth may there be.”
And to members of law enforcement, Espinosa and Hernandez’s family demanded that Thompson never work as a police officer again.
An appeal Thompson filed to get her job back is pending a review by the Civil Service Commission, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement addressing the dismissal.
Cagle offered no insight into whether Thompson would like to return to law enforcement.
“She was a good police officer and she had no issues at the sheriff’s office,” Cagle said. “She was well liked. If she wants to go back (to policing), that’s something she should be able to do.”