[Cite as State v. Hernandez, 2026-Ohio-679.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT LUCAS COUNTY
State of Ohio Court of Appeals No. {48}L-24-1232
Appellee Trial Court No. CR0202302553
v.
Antonio Hernandez, Jr. DECISION AND JUDGMENT
Appellant Decided: February 27, 2026
*****
Julia R. Bates, Lucas County Prosecuting Attorney, and, Randy L. Meyer, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.
Ronnie L. Wingate, for appellant.
***** MAYLE, J.
{¶ 1} Appellant, Antonio Hernandez Jr., appeals the August 30, 2024 judgment of
the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas sentencing him to 18 years to life in prison.
For the following reasons, we affirm.
I. Background and Facts
{¶ 2} This case arose from a December 18, 2022 shooting at a trailer on Moss
Creek in Washington Township, Lucas County, Ohio. After being bound over from the
juvenile court, Hernandez (who was 17 years old at the time) was charged with one count each of murder in violation of R.C. 2903.02(A), an unclassified felony (count 1); murder
in violation of R.C. 2903.02(B), an unclassified felony (count 2); and felonious assault in
violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(2), a second-degree felony (count 3). Each charge carried a
three-year firearm specification under R.C. 2941.145(A).
{¶ 3} Hernandez’s case was tried to a jury. At trial, the State presented the
testimony of 18 witnesses. Hernandez testified in his own behalf. The following
evidence was adduced at trial.
A. State’s case
1. Mother’s testimony
{¶ 4} Shawnta, the mother of victim K.C., testified that K.C. was 18 when she
died. She was in an off-and-on relationship with Zoey at the time. She and Zoey had
moved in together about 30 days before her death. Shawnta described K.C. as “quiet.
She never really liked a crowd. She didn’t do parties and gatherings.”
{¶ 5} On cross-examination, Shawnta said that K.C. was in love with Zoey.
Shawnta knew that Zoey was unfaithful to K.C., that they were about to break up, and
that K.C. was coming home because of Zoey. She did not know who Zoey was being
unfaithful with.
{¶ 6} On redirect, Shawnta explained that K.C. knew of Zoey’s infidelity and
never reacted violently to it. Instead, she said that “they had miscommunication and
[K.C.] wants to leave and Zoey wants her to come back.” K.C. would go back to Zoey
after these incidents.
2. 2. Officers’ testimony
{¶ 7} Lieutenant Phil Cook of the Toledo Police Department testified that he is
responsible for retrieving 911 calls and call records. He presented the records of two 911
calls from the Moss Creek trailer.
{¶ 8} In the first call, an agitated female caller tells the operator that she needs an
ambulance because her girlfriend was just shot. She did not know who shot her
girlfriend. She tells the operator that the girlfriend has a bullet in her chest and is
bleeding out. She repeatedly asks for an ambulance and paramedics and asks where help
is.
{¶ 9} In the second call, a caller who identifies herself as Savannah tells the
operator that a shooting happened at her house earlier and clothes belonging to Antonio
Hernandez, the person who shot her sister’s girlfriend, were still at her house. She said
that he changed out of his clothes so they would not be able to give a description of the
clothes that he was wearing.
{¶ 10} TPD officer Brandon Spinner was the first officer to arrive on the scene in
response to the 911 call. When he first arrived, he scanned the area to see if the suspect
was still on the scene but did not see anyone. Inside the trailer, he found approximately
six people, including K.C. The people inside were “hysterical” and “loud” and some
were crying. Spinner found K.C. in a bedroom between the bed and the wall. He did not
see anything, including any weapons, in her hands or around her on the ground. When he
pulled her out from between the bed and the wall, he could see her gunshot wound. He
administered first aid to K.C. while he waited for paramedics to arrive. His primary
3. concern when he first entered the residence was attending to K.C. He moved her so that
he could render treatment.
{¶ 11} After the paramedics arrived, Spinner helped gather information on scene.
He eventually rode to the hospital with K.C. in the ambulance and stayed at the hospital
until officers from Washington Township arrived.
{¶ 12} On cross-examination, Spinner said that he arrived at the trailer
approximately three minutes after receiving the dispatch. He could not remember what
information he gathered from the witnesses. He recalled seeing a young woman who was
“hysterical” and concerned about her girlfriend being shot but did not recall noticing any
blood on her.
{¶ 13} TPD officer Michael Rickard testified that he and his partner, officer
Daniel Radwanski, responded to a 911 call for a “shot person.” They arrived after
Spinner. When he got to the trailer, people inside directed him to the bedroom where
K.C. was lying on the floor between the wall and the bed. He saw Spinner attempting to
administer first aid and helped Spinner with his efforts. K.C. had a pulse while they
waited for paramedics, and Rickard’s primary concern was maintaining her condition
until EMS arrived.
{¶ 14} Once EMS took over K.C.’s care, Rickard helped secure the scene, assisted
with detaining witnesses, gathered information, and searched for evidence. He checked
the walls for bullet holes and the floor around the bed for bullet fragments or other
evidence, but he did not find anything. He did not see shell casings, a firearm, or a knife
on or around K.C. or in the bedroom. A man on scene, later identified as Anthony
4. Strunk, told Rickard that the suspect “was a black dude,” but no one provided
information about the suspect’s whereabouts. As far as he heard, no one mentioned a
knife. He characterized the trailer occupants’ demeanors as upset and recalled that
Savannah appeared upset and somewhat erratic.
{¶ 15} Rickard’s body camera video footage from that night shows a frantic Zoey
begging officers to help her girlfriend. When one of the officers asks where the gun is,
Zoey responds, “I don’t know. The gun’s gone. The gun’s gone. He ran off.” When an
officer asks her who ran off, she says, “I don’t know who ran off.” Then Strunk says, “It
was a black man, bro.” Zoey continues begging and screaming for help until Strunk
physically removes her from the bedroom. After that, the video shows the officers
rendering first aid to K.C. The officers note that they have no suspect information. After
a couple of minutes, Rickard walks around the rest of the trailer. He eventually walks
outside where other officers are talking to Savannah. She tells the officers that she was in
the other bedroom with her baby trying to get him back to sleep when she heard a bang
and then heard Zoey say that her girlfriend was shot. She claims that she did not know
what happened from that point because she was in the second bedroom with the baby.
When the officers ask if anyone who was there earlier is no longer present, she asks if
“Tonio,” the “Hispanic kid,” is there. When the officers say that he is not, Savannah
explains that she did not want Strunk to know that she told them because he might hurt
her, but his name was Antonio Hernandez, and he was one of the people at the party.
{¶ 16} On cross, Rickard agreed that the residence was chaotic with multiple
people present and talking, but he did not hear their stories and could not specify who
5. was there. He confirmed that he did not see any shell casings at any point and did not
recall seeing a knife on the kitchen island, though he later learned that a knife had been
removed from the counter. He did not recall personally seeing the knife and could not
describe it but understood that Radwanski was the one who picked it up. He did not
know what Radwanski did with the knife but believed standard procedure would be to
turn it over to Washington Township, the investigating agency.
{¶ 17} Rickard did not recall seeing red clothing under K.C.’s body. He was not
aware of anyone claiming that a shot came from outside the trailer.
{¶ 18} Radwanski testified that he and Rickard responded to a call for a person
shot. When he arrived at the trailer, he found multiple “highly emotional” people telling
him that a person was shot in the bedroom. When he entered the bedroom, he saw K.C.
lying on the floor between the bed and the wall. Spinner and Rickard were administering
first aid. When Radwanski asked one of the people in the trailer what the suspect looked
like, he was told that they did not know. He did not see any bullet holes or shell casings
in the bedroom.
{¶ 19} On his body cam video, he described one man (later identified as Strunk) as
defensive and argumentative. He recalled interacting with Zoey, who had blood on her
hands.
{¶ 20} At one point, another officer pointed out a partially opened knife on the
kitchen counter. Radwanski picked it up for officer safety. He first moved it from the
counter to the microwave and then to the top of the refrigerator to keep it out of reach.
He received no information that the knife was involved in the incident and moved it only
6. for safety reasons. He did not recall seeing blood on the knife, could not tell from a
photo whether it had blood on it, and said blood would have been important to note, if it
were present. Once Washington Township officers responded and took over, Radwanski
left to respond to another scene. He did not recall speaking with WTPD detectives or
know whether they were notified about the knife.
{¶ 21} The first minute of Radwanski’s body camera video shows the same scene
as the beginning of Rickard’s body camera video. After Radwanski leaves the bedroom,
an officer is heard saying that he has not gotten much suspect information “other than it’s
some random black guy that ran off.” When Radwanski asks Strunk and Zoey if they
have any description of the shooter, Strunk tells him that they do not. Blood is visible on
Zoey’s hands in the video. The video also shows the black, partially open knife on the
counter and Radwanski grabbing and moving the knife. Later, as Strunk is handcuffed
and sitting on the couch in the living room, he yells to Savannah to “don’t say shit” and
to “let these police find out the shit theyself [sic].”
{¶ 22} On cross, Radwanski confirmed that another officer told him to grab the
knife, he picked it up using a rubber glove, and he placed it on the refrigerator for safety.
The knife was partially open when he picked it up. He did not recall whether he closed it
completely before placing it on the refrigerator. He did not believe the knife had
evidentiary value because the dispatch information was only of a shooting. He did not
know if the knife was tested for DNA and conceded that he did not know whether any
blood was on it. He did not include anything about the knife in his report or personally
inform WTPD about it.
7. {¶ 23} Radwanski said that the scene was chaotic with at least three adults and a
baby present. He agreed that Zoey was hysterical and Strunk uncooperative, and that
officers attempted to calm Zoey without success. When Radwanski asked about a
potential suspect, Zoey said, “he ran off,” but when he asked who, responded “I don’t
know who ran off.” Radwanski did not get a suspect description or clothing information
from the trailer occupants during his time on scene. He heard someone say the shot
might have been from outside, so the officers checked the exterior perimeter for bullet
holes, but they found none.
{¶ 24} Radwanski confirmed that Strunk lifted and moved Zoey out of the
officers’ way and took her toward the kitchen where the knife was found.
{¶ 25} TPD officer Matthew Harger testified that he responded to the shooting
incident on Moss Creek. When he arrived, he found a “chaotic” scene with lots of yelling
and screaming. He recalled between six and eight non-law-enforcement people being in
the trailer. He said their emotions were high and they were distraught and worried about
K.C.
{¶ 26} While in the trailer, Harger saw a knife on the kitchen counter. He also
saw that Zoey had blood on her hands. He did not see any blood on the knife or recall
seeing any on the counter. No one mentioned the knife to any law enforcement officers
during their investigation as being involved in the shooting. Harger did not find any shell
casings or bullet defects in the trailer.
{¶ 27} Harger explained that not every item in a home would be taken as
evidence. Items with evidentiary value are identified and collected by investigative
8. personnel based on witness input, visible indicators like blood, and proximity to victims
or suspects. In this case, the victim was located on the floor of a rear bedroom, while the
knife was on the kitchen counter in a different room approximately 50 feet away.
Therefore, he concluded that the knife had no apparent importance beyond officer and
occupant safety.
{¶ 28} After leaving the trailer, Harger took Strunk to the Lucas County jail.
{¶ 29} In Harger’s body camera video, he is in the kitchen with Savannah and
Zoey. Savannah says, “I was just laying down my son. I don’t know what’s happening
right now.” Harger sees the knife on the counter and tells Radwanski to grab it. Harger
spends some time looking around the trailer for bullet holes. Zoey and Strunk are yelling
in the background of most of the video and the scene is fairly chaotic. Later, Strunk is
sitting on the couch in the living room but is not yet in handcuffs. He yells, “Savannah!
Don’t fucking say nothing . . . .” After that, one of the other officers handcuffs Strunk.
Harger’s body camera also records Strunk telling Savannah to “don’t say shit” and to “let
these police find out the shit theyself [sic].” After that, Harger walks Strunk to his patrol
car.
{¶ 30} On cross-examination, Harger confirmed that no one mentioned a knife to
him at the scene. He did not recall anyone saying that the shot came from outside,
though his body camera showed that he was among the officers searching around the
door area for the bullet’s origin or other evidence. He did not recall whether a black male
was mentioned as a suspect.
9. {¶ 31} Regarding the knife, he identified Radwanski as the officer who moved
it—initially to the microwave and then to the fridge—at Harger’s direction to get it “out
of play” for safety. Harger only briefly viewed the knife, did not examine it for blood,
DNA, or fingerprints, and did not know whether it was examined or taken as evidence.
While responding to a shots-fired call, he was not specifically looking for a knife.
{¶ 32} Christopher Kaiser, chief of the WTPD, testified that he was called to a
trailer neighboring the Moss Creek trailer because the resident, Derrick, had found a shell
casing. Derrick found the casing on his driveway but had it in a plastic bag when Kaiser
arrived. The casing was a .40 caliber casing. Kaiser said that the two trailers were
approximately 40 feet apart and the casing was found approximately 30 feet from the
Moss Creek trailer.
{¶ 33} After retrieving the casing, Kaiser took it to the station for processing.
{¶ 34} On cross, Kaiser confirmed that the casing was sent for testing, although he
did not know exactly what tests were performed. He had no firsthand knowledge of how
Derrick initially handled the casing before bagging it. He acknowledged that the casing
was submitted for testing approximately two months after the incident.
3. Neighbor’s testimony
{¶ 35} Derrick, the neighbor who found the shell casing, testified that he was
aware that something happened at the Moss Creek trailer because he saw the police cars
and ambulance. “[W]ithin a day or two” of seeing those vehicles at the neighbor’s trailer,
he found the shell casing in his driveway. He explained that he saw something shiny on
the ground, picked it up, and “as soon as [he] realized what it was [he] dropped it.” He
10. then got a baggie, picked up the casing with the baggie, sealed the casing inside, and
called the police. The police came to take the casing.
{¶ 36} On cross, Derrick confirmed that he was “[n]ot 100 percent sure when” the
casing was put on his driveway but knew that it was “within a day or two of that
incident.”
4. Medical testimony
{¶ 37} Michael Bailey, chief of the Washington Township Fire Department,
testified that he responded to the gunshot wound call. Upon entering the trailer, Bailey
observed a “mildly chaotic” scene with yelling and screaming happening. Law
enforcement officers were present, and people were separated in different rooms. He
went directly into the bedroom where K.C. was lying on the floor. He noted that K.C.
had a gunshot wound to her chest and did not have an exit wound on her back. After
assessing K.C., the EMTs decided to immediately transport her to the hospital. She was
awake and talking on the way to the hospital but coded as the EMTs transferred her to the
hospital’s care. He did not know K.C.’s time of death.
{¶ 38} On cross-examination, Bailey confirmed that he assessed K.C. and
determined that she needed to be transported to the hospital. He recalled assisting with
K.C. inside of the trailer but did not remember moving her outside and did not recall
whether she was dropped while EMTs were moving her to the gurney.
{¶ 39} Dr. Dwayne Wolf, the deputy Lucas County coroner who performed the
autopsy on K.C., testified that she had a gunshot wound to her torso and contusions on
the right side of her neck and left wrist and hand. No other injuries were noted aside
11. from medical intervention markings, like a surgical incision. There was no visible
gunshot residue on K.C.’s hands. Her chest showed an atypical gunshot entrance wound
complex, with a true entrance wound, a partial exit wound, and a re-entry wound in a skin
fold. This presentation was due to breast compression, which could have come from the
sports bra K.C. wore. Internally, the bullet traveled front to back, perforating the center
of K.C.’s liver and inferior vena cava, eventually lodging in her 12th thoracic vertebra.
The bullet’s lead core was recovered from K.C.’s spine, and its jacket was found in her
chest cavity. There was no soot or stippling on K.C.’s skin, and no gunshot residue on
her clothing, which indicated that the gun was fired from a range of greater than two feet.
Wolf certified K.C.’s cause of death as a gunshot wound to the torso and determined that
her manner of death was homicide.
{¶ 40} On cross, Wolf said that the injuries on K.C.’s neck and wrist could be
consistent with being in a fight. These injuries likely occurred around the time of her
death. Wolf also said that the same type of atypical bullet wound could occur if a person
was shot with their hands up. Wolf reiterated there was no soot or stippling on K.C.’s
skin, indicating that the shot was from greater than two feet, but the precise distance was
indeterminate. He clarified that wounds caused from beyond two feet appear the same,
whether at three feet or much farther, and emphasized that “closeness” referred to gun-to-
body distance.
5. Partygoers’ testimony
{¶ 41} Shannon, a friend of Strunk’s, testified that she went to the Moss Creek
trailer the night of December 17, 2022, because Strunk and Savannah asked her to come
12. over. Strunk, Savannah, Hernandez, Zoey, K.C., and Strunk and Savannah’s baby were
there. Shannon said that Hernandez had a gun and “was not what you would call very
compliant with a weapon.” She did not see anyone else with any weapons. Hernandez
was also acting drunk and rowdy while swinging the gun around, which made Shannon
very uncomfortable, particularly because there was a baby around. She asked Hernandez
to put the gun away, but he refused. She described him as acting “hard” and “tough, like
he’s a big bad guy. No matter what he does or do he’s not worried about anybody.”
Hernandez “made a comment that if they killed anybody they would get away with it.”
{¶ 42} Zoey and K.C. were having fun when Shannon arrived. They “didn’t seem
like anything was so serious between them at that time.” Although this was the first time
Shannon had met K.C., she described her as “very sweet, loving, very quiet, seemed
pretty laid back girl. Wasn’t rowdy at all being there. Very personal.”
{¶ 43} No one got into a fight while Shannon was there, but she felt “a little
schemie [sic] in the room from like the three roommate relationship type thing that was
going on between Zoey, Antonio, and [K.C.].”
{¶ 44} Shannon left the trailer to go to the store. She denied going to buy liquor
for the group, claiming that “they had a whole gallon of liquor on the table at the time
when [she] arrived already.”
{¶ 45} She eventually left because Hernandez was making her feel unsafe.
{¶ 46} On cross-examination, Shannon explained that she did not really know
Hernandez. When she went to the store, she took Savannah and either Strunk or
Hernandez with her. She bought alcohol for her personal consumption at the store; she
13. did not buy it for the group at the trailer. Although Hernandez gave her money, she
claimed that it was for gas, not alcohol.
{¶ 47} When Shannon left the trailer, she said that everything seemed normal.
However, she felt some tension between Zoey, K.C., and Hernandez.
{¶ 48} Shannon was at the trailer for no more than an hour. She told the detective
that she left because she felt uncomfortable due to the tension between Zoey, K.C., and
Hernandez. She also said that she had a hit-and-run situation to deal with that night. She
did not tell him that she was uncomfortable because of the gun.
{¶ 49} Shannon told the detective that the people at the party were not in any
danger, but Hernandez took offense to her telling him that having a gun did not make him
cool. She told the detective that the group was already drunk when she arrived.
{¶ 50} Zoey testified that K.C. was her girlfriend. They lived together at the Moss
Creek trailer, along with Strunk, Savannah, and Strunk and Savannah’s child. She
described K.C. as “[v]ery kind and caring and funny and a very good person in general.”
She knew that Hernandez and Strunk were cousins and were also friends.
{¶ 51} The night of December 17, 2022, Zoey, Hernandez, Strunk, and Savannah
were hanging out at the trailer drinking. Shannon was also present for part of the evening
to take Hernandez to the store for more liquor. Hernandez and Strunk both had guns out
that evening. Hernandez carried his in the waistband of his pants. Hernandez and Strunk
got into a fight that evening, with Hernandez “choking Anthony out to the point where
his face was turning purple[.]” Hernandez also got into a fight with Zoey because he was
14. lying on the floor of the bedroom pointing his gun at her when she walked out of the
bathroom. They bit each other during their fight.
{¶ 52} Later in the evening, right before K.C. was shot, Zoey was in the bedroom
waiting to use the bathroom. She was lying on the right end of the bed while she waited.
As she was waiting, Hernandez came in and stood by the foot of the bed near her. While
they were both in the room, K.C. walked in. She did not have a knife or anything else in
her hands. Zoey heard K.C. yell, and then Hernandez shot K.C. Zoey ran to her phone to
call 911. She did not tell the police who shot K.C. because she was scared and “the
retaliation is real.” However, when she was at the police station being interviewed, she
asked to call her mother after learning that K.C. had died and she told her mother that
“Antonio did it.”
{¶ 53} The first time Zoey learned about a knife being involved in this case was
sometime after Hernandez or Strunk testified in juvenile court. She said that K.C. owned
a pocketknife that she kept in a drawer in her and Zoey’s bedroom in the trailer. When
Zoey went to the trailer on December 18 to pack up K.C.’s belongings, she found the
knife in their bedroom under a fan. She had never seen K.C. with a black and green
knife.
{¶ 54} On cross, Zoey confirmed her testimony from a prior hearing that K.C.
owned a small, two-inch, silver-bladed pocketknife, not a green and black knife.
However, she later identified pictures of an eight-inch, black-bladed knife as the knife
belonging to K.C. that she found in their bedroom. She agreed she had testified
previously that there was no argument between Hernandez and Strunk at the party and no
15. altercation between Hernandez and K.C. other than the shooting. She admitted that she
may not have reported Hernandez pointing the gun at her or choking Strunk to any law
enforcement until she spoke with the prosecutor a few days before trial.
{¶ 55} Zoey admitted to being unfaithful to K.C. during their relationship by
having sexual relations with Hernandez. The night of the shooting, while Zoey was
sitting on the bed waiting to use the bathroom, Hernandez came in and stood near her by
the foot of the bed. At an earlier hearing, Zoey testified that K.C. came in the room and
did not like what she saw going on between Zoey and Hernandez, but she could not
remember what she and Hernandez were doing. Whatever they were doing was
consensual.
{¶ 56} She also admitted to telling police that she did not know who shot K.C. and
did not know where the shot had come from. She did not recall telling officers that she
was sitting on the couch or a stool and came running when the shot was fired but did not
dispute those statements if they were on the officers’ body cameras.
{¶ 57} Zoey said that Hernandez and K.C. “were good friends” and were near
each other most of the night. She also confirmed that Shannon came to the trailer to take
Hernandez to buy alcohol.
{¶ 58} On redirect, Zoey explained that she told the police on the scene different
things than she said in court “[p]robably because [she] was really drunk” and she “just
watched [her] girlfriend get murdered.”
{¶ 59} She did not see any physical altercation between Hernandez and K.C. the
night of the shooting. Although K.C. touched Hernandez, it was not in an aggressive
16. way. Zoey heard K.C. yelling when she came into the bedroom but did not see a knife in
her hand.
{¶ 60} Savannah testified that she was living at the Moss Creek trailer with
Strunk, their child, Zoey, and K.C. in December 2022. The night of the shooting, the
trailer’s residents (with the exception of the baby) and Hernandez were smoking and
drinking to the point that they became “pretty drunk.” Hernandez brought liquor with
him; when he ran out, Strunk called Shannon to come take Hernandez to the store for
more. Savannah went to the store with Shannon and Hernandez.
{¶ 61} Savannah saw Hernandez with a gun in his pocket that evening. She
thought it was a .40 caliber but did not know the brand.
{¶ 62} Regarding Hernandez and K.C.’s relationship, Savannah said that she did
not “think that they hated each other. [She] thought they were like cool together. . . .
Like there wasn’t no problems.”
{¶ 63} Savannah said that Hernandez and Strunk were both cousins and “like best
friends.” Despite that, they had gotten into a fight that evening and “Antonio had choked
[Strunk] out till he like turned purple.” Following the fight, Strunk went into the
bathroom and passed out on the floor.
{¶ 64} While Strunk was in the bathroom, everyone else was in the kitchen. Then
Zoey went into the bedroom. Hernandez also went into the bedroom. Soon after, the
music that was playing stopped, so Savannah went to see what was going on. When she
walked into the bedroom, she saw Zoey on the bed and Hernandez standing at the end of
the bed. She did not remember what they were doing. She walked past them, took the
17. baby out of his crib, and left the bedroom. When she got back to the kitchen, K.C. was
sitting at the counter. She did not have anything in her hands and did not seem upset or
angry. K.C. asked what Zoey was doing. Savannah responded, “I don’t know what she’s
doing. Go check.” She then took the baby into the other bedroom. As she was doing so,
she passed K.C., who did not have anything in her hands. While Savannah was shutting
the bedroom door, she “heard [K.C.] yell, Oh, so we fucking with these n-----. And Zoey
said, no, baby. It’s not like that. And then [she] heard the gunshot.” Savannah did not
see K.C. walk at or near Hernandez with a knife, and she did not have anything in her
hands just before the shooting.
{¶ 65} After hearing the gunshot, Savannah heard Zoey screaming in the kitchen.
She went out to Zoey, who did not have anything in her hands except her phone. She
then went into the bedroom to check on K.C. Shortly after, the police arrived.
{¶ 66} When the police initially questioned Savannah, she did not give them
Hernandez’s name because she “didn’t want to be like be labeled as a snitch[,]” “didn’t
know what really had went on in the first place anyways[,]” did not truly know who had
shot K.C., and “didn’t want to say the wrong thing in front of” Strunk because he could
sometimes be violent. She recalled Strunk “telling [her] not to tell them nothing, like,
don’t tell them anything, when the cops were there.” However, she eventually told the
detective about Hernandez that night. She learned for sure that Hernandez had shot K.C.
when Zoey called their mother from the police station. She learned from that same phone
call that K.C. had died.
18. {¶ 67} Savannah found Hernandez’s clothes in the trailer and turned them over to
the police.
{¶ 68} On cross-examination, Savannah claimed that she did not recognize the
black knife in the photo defense counsel showed her and did not believe it was K.C.’s
knife. She thought that it was a different knife than the knife she saw a police officer
holding in the trailer.
{¶ 69} Savannah admitted that she did not tell the police the story about going into
the bedroom to get the baby and K.C. asking her what Zoey was doing the night of the
shooting. She did not add these details to her story until March 2024 after the prosecutor
told her that she needed to speak to the police again. During the second interview with
the police, Savannah told the officer that she was mad because Strunk was claiming that
Hernandez acted in self-defense, but he was in the bathroom at the time of the shooting.
{¶ 70} She acknowledged telling the police the night of the shooting that she heard
the baby crying, picked him up, was in the other bedroom with him watching TV, paused
the show, heard a loud bang, and stayed still until she heard Zoey on the phone, but she
testified at trial that those details were lies she told to avoid losing custody of the child
and that she later told the truth. She also told the officers that someone fired a shot into
the house.
{¶ 71} She testified that she had suspicions when Zoey and then Antonio went into
Savannah’s bedroom and the music stopped, given Zoey and Antonio’s past, which led
her to go check, but she does not remember exactly what she saw beyond Zoey on the
19. bed and Antonio standing at the end of the bed, and she could not say whether they were
having sex.
{¶ 72} Savannah admitted that she was not in the room with Hernandez and K.C.
“[f]or like two minutes” before the shooting and could not see into the room. However,
Savannah “walked past her, and it only took two minutes. There wasn’t no knife
accessible for her to just grab and come at him with a knife. She did not have nothing in
her hands.”
6. Detective’s testimony
{¶ 73} Deputy chief detective Eric Hart of the WTPD was the lead investigator on
this case. He testified that he responded to the scene of the shooting on December 18,
2022. When he arrived, he first assessed K.C., who was on the floor of the bedroom
between the bed and the wall.
{¶ 74} Hart next went to the kitchen where Zoey, Savannah, and Strunk were. He
described Zoey as extremely frantic and loud, Savannah as the calmest, and Strunk as
loud and distracting. Strunk told Savannah not to say anything to the police. Zoey had
blood on her hands and arms. No one else in the trailer had blood on their hands.
{¶ 75} Hart did not see a knife while he was on scene. He did not collect or
photograph any knives until much later in the investigation, and none of the TPD officers
on site told him anything about a knife.
{¶ 76} Hart did not initially receive any information about the suspect from the
EMTs or the trailer’s occupants. Later, he heard Strunk say that the shooter was “a
random black guy.” The first “verified suspect information” he got came from Savannah.
20. He was speaking with her in the driveway and, after confirming that Hernandez was
gone, she told him that Hernandez had been at the trailer, he had fled, and he had shot
K.C. She also claimed that she had not said anything earlier out of fear.
{¶ 77} While speaking with Strunk on scene, Hart found him to be difficult,
uncooperative, and agitated. He was eventually taken into custody.
{¶ 78} Hart learned from TPD officers who went to the hospital that K.C. had
died. When he later went to the hospital, he collected the bullet jacket that doctors found
in K.C.’s chest and the clothes that K.C. had been wearing, took photos, and notified the
coroner.
{¶ 79} After completing his investigation at the hospital, Hart interviewed Zoey at
the police station. Although Zoey had calmed down, when he informed her that K.C. had
died, “that new news, again, escalated her situation, very upset, very dramatic situation.”
Zoey asked to call her mother, which the officers eventually allowed. While speaking to
her mother, Zoey said, “Antonio Hernandez shot my girlfriend, and I watched him do it.”
This was the first time Zoey had provided any information about a suspect.
{¶ 80} Based on the information he had gathered, Hart obtained a warrant for
Hernandez’s arrest.
{¶ 81} At no point did Hart have any indication that there would be a self-defense
claim in this case or that a knife would be important in this case. Later on in his
investigation, he learned from the prosecutor’s office that a knife had been given to
K.C.’s mother. He collected the knife as evidence but did not have it tested because of
his inability to place it at the scene.
21. {¶ 82} Hart saw Hernandez just after his arrest. He did not have any cuts,
scratches, or bruises on his hands or face.
{¶ 83} Hart said that the bullet jacket and bullet core appeared consistent with a
.40 caliber bullet. The gun used to shoot K.C. was never recovered.
{¶ 84} Hart eventually interviewed Shannon. The interview took place a long
time after the shooting because it took him a considerable amount of time to fully identify
her.
{¶ 85} On cross, Hart said that Zoey told him at the police station that she was
lying in bed waiting for K.C. to come out of the bathroom when she heard a boom, saw a
bright light, and heard K.C. say “help,” She called 911 as soon as she heard the boom.
Zoey was also irate and kicking desks and trashcans.
{¶ 86} In his 16 years with WTPD, this was the only murder case he had
investigated.
{¶ 87} Hart first received information about a knife on December 19, 2022, but
did not search for a knife at that time and later realized from video—”way down the
road”—that a knife had been on the counter and moved by an officer, by which time any
evidentiary value would have been diminished. The knife was never sent for DNA
testing, and he had no knife to test at the time of the initial investigation. He maintained
that he could not say whether the knife he later recovered from K.C.’s mother was the
same knife seen on the counter, despite it looking similar in photos he took when he
recovered it over a year later and despite Zoey identifying it as K.C.’s knife at trial. Hart
22. stated that he did not ask Zoey or Savannah before trial whether the recovered knife
belonged to K.C.
{¶ 88} Regarding self-defense, Hart said the first indication arose much later in the
case—he believed from Anthony—and not on December 19, 2022, and that his initial
focus did not include self-defense or a knife theory.
{¶ 89} Hart did not have in any of his reports that Zoey told him that Hernandez
and Strunk got into a fight and Hernandez choked Strunk. It was possible that her trial
testimony was the first time that she told anyone about the men getting into a fight.
{¶ 90} At no point did Zoey say in the body camera footage that she knew who
shot K.C.
{¶ 91} Following Hart’s testimony, the State rested.
{¶ 92} Hernandez moved for acquittal under Crim.R. 29. The trial court denied
his motion.
B. Hernandez’s case
{¶ 93} Hernandez testified in his own behalf. He said that he was 17 in December
2022. He was friends with Strunk, his cousin, and on good terms with Savannah,
Strunk’s girlfriend, and Zoey, Savannah’s sister. He also had a sexual relationship with
Zoey that had been going on since October 2022. He claimed that they engaged in sexual
activities every time he went to the Moss Creek trailer. Hernandez knew K.C. as Zoey’s
girlfriend and said that they had a good relationship and got along.
{¶ 94} On December 17, Hernandez went to the trailer for a get together. He,
Strunk, Savannah, Zoey, and K.C. were there. They were drinking and smoking
23. marijuana. At some point, Shannon came to the party. She took Hernandez and
Savannah to the store to buy more liquor. There were no arguments before Hernandez
went to the store. After he got back to the trailer, he continued partying for a while.
{¶ 95} Eventually, Hernandez got tired and lay down in the bedroom. A few
minutes after he went into the bedroom, Zoey came in and laid down with him and they
began having sex. Strunk came in to use the bathroom while they were having sex, but
they continued. Then K.C. walked in. According to Hernandez, she “got mad and started
cussing and then closed the door and left.” Zoey followed her out. He could hear K.C.
and Zoey yelling and arguing while he was getting dressed. He was not able to fully
dress because K.C. came back into the room. She was “mad cussing” and had a knife in
her hand. He identified the picture of a black knife as the knife K.C. had when she came
back into the bedroom. K.C. was “swinging the knife back and forth. She said, what you
going to do now, bitch?” Hernandez was between the bed and the wall, and K.C. started
walking across the bed toward him. Hernandez told her to stay back and not come any
closer. She kept coming toward him and got within about three feet of him, so he
“pointed [his] gun at her and told her to stay back. Don’t come any closer.” K.C. kept
coming toward him and “said she was going to fuck [him] up.” Then she “lunged at”
him, i.e., “jumped at [him] with the knife, came towards [him].” Hernandez fired his gun
once because he believed that he was going to be stabbed, and K.C. fell.
{¶ 96} After shooting K.C., Hernandez ran out of the house. He did so because
Strunk told him to get out and because he was scared. The door to the bathroom, where
Strunk was, was open when Strunk told him to leave. After he left the trailer, he called
24. his cousin to pick him up. He stayed with his sister overnight and went to his mother’s
house the next day when he learned that the police were there so he could turn himself in.
{¶ 97} Hernandez said that he shot K.C. because he had never seen her that mad
before, she kept coming toward him, even after he told her to stop, she had a knife in her
hand and lunged at him, and he believed that she was going to stab and kill him.
{¶ 98} On cross-examination, Hernandez said that Zoey and Savannah were lying
about him getting into a fight with Strunk and him standing at the end of the bed,
Savannah was lying about the baby being in his crib when he and Zoey were in the
bedroom because Savannah had taken him to the other bedroom about an hour before the
shooting, and Shannon was lying about leaving the trailer because he waved a gun around
and made her uncomfortable. He believed that K.C. was angry with both him and Zoey
after catching them having sex.
{¶ 99} Hernandez said that everyone in the trailer was drunk to some degree that
night.
{¶ 100} When Hernandez was running, the gun fell out of his pocket, and he kept
running because he did not care about it. He denied removing the shell casing from the
trailer.
{¶ 101} Regarding what happened in the bedroom, Hernandez affirmed that Zoey
came in and lay next to him and they had sex while Anthony was in the bathroom with
the door open for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. His gun was on the nightstand next to
the bed. The first time K.C. came into the bedroom, she was mad, yelling, and cussing,
but her anger was mostly directed at Zoey. After she left the room, Zoey went after her,
25. and Hernandez could hear them yelling at each other. A short time later, while
Hernandez was attempting to get dressed, K.C. came back into the bedroom with a knife
in her hand. Hernandez grabbed his gun as soon as he saw the knife. K.C. was swinging
her arms and saying, “what you going to do now, bitch?” Hernandez “[t]old her to stay
back. Don’t come closer.” K.C. hopped on the bed and started walking across it toward
Hernandez, who told her again to stay back and not come closer. As she was walking on
the bed, he was backing away toward the baby’s crib. K.C. was on the ground with the
knife raised above her shoulder and two to three feet away from Hernandez when she
lunged at him. He had pulled his gun out and told her to stay back. She told him that she
was “going to fuck [him] up” right before lunging at him. After shooting K.C.,
Hernandez ran because Strunk told him to and because he was scared. Strunk told him to
leave while he was standing in the bathroom doorway.
{¶ 102} Hernandez denied having the gun out and pointing it during the party,
though he acknowledged that it was on the counter at times and said that he kept it in his
pocket until he put it on the nightstand. He said Savannah, Zoey, and Shannon were
lying to the extent they claimed otherwise. He believed that K.C. knew that he had a gun.
{¶ 103} Following his testimony, Hernandez renewed his Crim.R. 29 motion,
which the trial court denied. Then, Hernandez rested.
C. Outcome and sentencing
{¶ 104} The jury found Hernandez not guilty of murder in count 1 and guilty of
murder in count 2, felonious assault, and both firearm specifications. The trial court
sentenced him to 15 years to life in prison on count 2, 8 to 12 years in prison on count 3,
26. and three years in prison on each specification. It ordered the felonious assault sentence
to be served concurrently with the murder sentence for an aggregate prison sentence of 18
years to life.
{¶ 105} Hernandez now appeals, raising one assignment of error:
Mr. Hernandez’s convictions for murder and felonious assault were against the manifest weight of the evidence.
II. Law and Analysis
{¶ 106} In his assignment of error, Hernandez argues that his conviction is against
the manifest weight of the evidence because the State failed to prove any of the elements
of self-defense. He contends that the testimony of Zoey, Savannah, and Shannon is not
credible, Zoey was at fault in creating the situation giving rise to the affray, and the
police did not investigate whether and how the knife on the counter was involved in the
shooting. The State responds that Hernandez was at least partially at fault in creating the
situation because he chose to take a gun to a party that “he knew involved a sex triangle
among him, Zoey, and K.C.” And, despite knowing that “the party was a drunken and
potentially volatile situation,” Hernandez chose to have sex with Zoey. Additionally, the
State contends that Hernandez lacked a bona fide belief that he was in imminent danger
of death or great bodily harm and he used excessive force because K.C. did not have a
knife when she went into the bedroom.
{¶ 107} Under R.C. 2901.05(B)(1), “[a] person is allowed to act in self-defense . .
. .” “A person may use deadly force in self-defense where he (1) was not at fault in
creating the situation giving rise to the affray; (2) had a bona fide belief that he was in
27. imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that his only means of escape from
such danger was in the use of such force; and (3) did not violate any duty to retreat or
avoid the danger.” State v. Lathan, 2024-Ohio-2514, ¶ 77 (6th Dist.), citing State v.
Messenger, 2022-Ohio-4562, ¶ 14. Once the defendant presents a viable self-defense
claim, the State must disprove one of the elements beyond a reasonable doubt to defeat
the claim. State v. Weemes, 2025-Ohio-2319, ¶ 32 (6th Dist.).
{¶ 108} When we review a claim that a verdict is against the manifest weight of
the evidence, we weigh the evidence and all reasonable inferences, consider the
credibility of the witnesses, and determine whether the trial court clearly lost its way in
resolving evidentiary conflicts so as to create such a manifest miscarriage of justice that
the conviction must be reversed and a new trial ordered. State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio
St.3d 380, 387 (1997). We do not view the evidence in a light most favorable to the
prosecution. “Instead, we sit as a ‘thirteenth juror’ and scrutinize ‘the factfinder’s
resolution of the conflicting testimony.’” State v. Robinson, 2012-Ohio-6068, ¶ 15 (6th
Dist.), quoting id. at 387. Reversal on manifest weight grounds is reserved for “‘the
exceptional case in which the evidence weighs heavily against the conviction.’”
Thompkins at 387, quoting State v. Martin, 20 Ohio App.3d 172, 175 (1st Dist. 1983).
“When reviewing a manifest weight claim involving self-defense, the court reviews the
entire record, considers the credibility of witnesses, and determines whether the trier of
fact clearly lost its way and created a manifest miscarriage of justice with respect to its
finding that the State disproved at least one of the self-defense elements beyond a
reasonable doubt.” Weemes at ¶ 33.
28. {¶ 109} Although we consider the credibility of witnesses under a manifest-weight
standard, we must, nonetheless, extend special deference to the jury’s credibility
determinations, given that it is the jury that has the benefit of seeing the witnesses testify,
observing their facial expressions and body language, hearing their voice inflections, and
discerning qualities such as hesitancy, equivocation, and candor. State v. Fell, 2012-
Ohio-616, ¶ 14 (6th Dist.).
{¶ 110} The bona fide belief element of self-defense is a combined subjective and
objective test. State v. Woods, 2023-Ohio-3549, ¶ 54 (6th Dist.), citing State v. Lane,
2023-Ohio-1305, ¶ 24 (6th Dist.); and State v. Thomas, 77 Ohio St.3d 323, 330 (1997).
“A bona fide belief requires weighing the use of force against the believed danger,
permitting ‘only such force as is necessary to repel an attack.’” Id., quoting Lane at ¶ 24;
State v. Barker, 2022-Ohio-3756, ¶ 28 (2d Dist.). Furthermore, where the use of force
“‘was so disproportionate that it shows a purpose to injure, self-defense is unavailable.’”
Id. at ¶ 56, quoting Barker at ¶ 28. Under this element, the factfinder must consider the
genuineness and reasonableness of the defendant’s belief and whether, under the
circumstances, he exercised a careful and proper use of his own faculties. State v. Links,
2025-Ohio-264, ¶ 22 (6th Dist.), citing State v. Stevenson, 2018-Ohio-5140, ¶ 42 (10th
Dist.); and State v. Sheets, 115 Ohio St. 308, 310 (1926). Accordingly, the second
element of self-defense generally requires the trier of fact to evaluate the defendant’s
credibility. Id., citing State v. Olsen, 2023-Ohio-2254, ¶ 57 (11th Dist.); and State v.
Walker, 2021-Ohio-2037, ¶ 13 (8th Dist.).
29. {¶ 111} Here, the jury did not lose its way or create a manifest miscarriage of
justice by finding that the State disproved Hernandez’s self-defense claim because the
evidence supports a finding that Hernandez did not have a bona fide belief that he was in
imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that his only means of escape from
the danger was the use of deadly force. Zoey and Savannah each testified that K.C. was
emptyhanded when she went into the bedroom immediately before Hernandez shot her—
i.e., she did not have a knife in her hands when she approached Hernandez in the
bedroom. Officers did not find a knife on or around K.C. or in the bedroom. And
immediately after the shooting, Savannah saw Zoey, who did not have anything in her
hands except for her phone. Although Hernandez testified that K.C. did have a knife,
“[i]t is well settled that a conviction is not against the manifest weight of the evidence
simply because the [trier of fact] rejected the defendant's version of the facts and believed
the testimony presented by the state.” (Second brackets in original and internal
quotations omitted.) State v. Tuggle, 2023-Ohio-3965, ¶ 64 (6th Dist.), citing State v.
Hughkeith, 2023-Ohio-1217, ¶ 58 (8th Dist.).
{¶ 112} Moreover, “[w]hen there is more than one believable interpretation of the
evidence, we do not choose which theory we believe is more credible and substitute it for
the theory chosen by the [fact-finder].” (Brackets in original and internal quotations
omitted.) Id., citing State v. Rydarowicz, 2023-Ohio-916, ¶ 81 (7th Dist.). Because that
is the case, we accept the jury’s conclusion that it was not objectively reasonable for
Hernandez to believe that he was in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm, so
the state disproved the bona-fide-belief element of self-defense beyond a reasonable
30. doubt. Additionally, because the state need only disprove one element of self-defense,
we need not address the remaining elements. State v. Fisher, 2024-Ohio-5520, ¶ 38 (6th
Dist.). Hernandez’s assignment of error is not well-taken.
III. Conclusion
{¶ 113} For the foregoing reasons, the August 30, 2024 judgment of the Lucas
County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed. Hernandez is ordered to pay the costs of
this appeal under App.R. 24.
Judgment affirmed.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to App.R. 27. See also 6th Dist.Loc.App.R. 4.
Thomas J. Osowik, P.J. ____________________________ JUDGE Christine E. Mayle, J. ____________________________ Myron C. Duhart, J. JUDGE CONCUR. ____________________________ JUDGE
This decision is subject to further editing by the Supreme Court of Ohio’s Reporter of Decisions. Parties interested in viewing the final reported version are advised to visit the Ohio Supreme Court’s web site at: http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/ROD/docs/.
31.