The 2014 Los Angeles Metropolitan area drive-by shooting spree of Alexander Hernandez is documented in “Evil Lives Here: Shadows of Death: City of Angels,” an Investigation Discovery series, which took place between March and August. He ruthlessly shot down two dogs and killed five people, according to prosecution filings, injuring seven more.
Prom Night Horror: Young Love Targeted
On May 12, 1980, Alexander Hernandez was born in Sylmar, Los Angeles, California. He was previously convicted in 2004 for possession and sale of a controlled narcotic, possession of a controlled substance while carrying a weapon, and possession of a handgun by a felon, according to court documents. Additionally, court records revealed how Alexander’s ex-girlfriend Stephanie Soto obtained a restraining order against him in 2010. She talked about how he had caused her and her two small girls to worry about their safety on multiple occasions.
Gloria Tovar Court records additionally demonstrated Alexander’s denial of Stephanie’s request to exit a garage during a disagreement in January 2010. She claimed that after she threatened to contact the police, he took out a screwdriver and began injuring himself on his chest. In addition, Stephanie stated that three months later, during another altercation, Alexander leaped out of her moving automobile and started punching the car. When she drove back later with her girls, she remembered how he threw himself in the centre of the street and started hitting the car again.
Furthermore, the mother of two said that Alexander texted her, threatening to “blow up your car,” and damaged the windows of her car three times. “I saw how far [his] anger will go, and I am afraid for my safety and the safety of my daughters,” she said in her deposition. I don’t want to see what he is capable of, and I fear that [his] behaviour may worsen. According to reports, Alexander was taken into custody in June 2014 on suspicion of threatening his cousin with a knife. He was released, nevertheless, when the prosecution chose not to pursue the charge.
Alexander’s murderous rampage allegedly started on March 14, 2014, when he shot and killed Sergio Sanchez while travelling on the 210 Motorway close to Sylmar. The 35-year-old man was found slumped dead in his car on an off-ramp after he had been heading home. Michele Hanisee, the former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, asserted that Alexander had no apparent reason for attacking Sergio and that he did not know him. He observed that the former appeared to fire from his car at random.
After Sergio was killed, Alexander carried out multiple shootings in which victims suffered serious injuries but lived. Among them was the car-to-car shooting incident that happened in Northridge in May 2014, when the 19-year-old who was driving his girlfriend home from prom opened fire on her. According to court documents, the victim had partial paralysis. Furthermore, on June 15, 2014, at approximately 6:00 AM, Alexander shot a man in the arm on the 210 Motorway, seriously injuring him.
According to court records, Alexander went on a five-d ay shooting rampage in August 2014, engaging in seven shotgun shootings that resulted in four fatalities and numerous injuries. The first happened on August 20, when a 42-year-old lady was shot and injured as she got off the 5-freeway in Atwater Village, California, at around 6:00 AM. He even killed two of the three dogs he shot that day while driving close to his house.
According to reports, at five in the morning on August 21, Alexander shot and killed Gildardo Morales, 59, as he was travelling to work in his pickup truck in the Pacoima neighbourhood of the San Fernando Valley. On August 22, he then opened fire on a couple riding in their pickup vehicle in West Hollywood, but the victims were able to flee uninjured. On August 24, at 5:50 AM, the Franco family was heading to the church when they saw Alexander following them in an erratic manner. As the family pulled over in the 1400 block of Celis Street in San Fernando, he opened fire on the truck, killing 22-year-old Mariana Franco and seriously hurting her parents.
Police sources claim that Mariana’s siblings were not hurt while inside the car. Michael Planells, 29, was shot and killed by Alexander around forty minutes later when he was looking for recyclables in the Sylmar Recreational Centre parking lot. The murderer shot Gloria Tovar,59, as she sat in her automobile in the 12900 block of Filmore Street in Pacoima.
The Village Killer Remains Incarcerated
On August 24, 2014, Alexander locked himself in his house for an hour and was taken into custody by the Los Angeles SWAT squad. The authorities discovered the pistol-grip shotgun he had used in the August shootings after he was arrested. The police eventually connected Alexander to the other gunfire episodes in 2015, even though he was initially charged with the four shootings. His trial was not reopened despite his arrest in 2014 because he was periodically having his mental capacity assessed.
The COVID-19 pandemic also caused an 18-month delay in Alexander’s experiment. During the trial, Michele Hanisee used video evidence to support her allegations that he repeatedly stalked his victims. “He was hunting for people,” said the district attorney. In all, Alexander shot and killed four individuals, including two 12-year-olds who were riding in a car with their parents, and injured seven more. At first, Alexander was going to be given the death punishment by the prosecution.
But following his victory in 2020, District Attorney George Gascón prohibited his prosecutors from pursuing the death penalty. After being found guilty on May 25, 2022, of five counts of murder, eleven counts of attempted murder, eight counts of shooting at an occupied motor vehicle, three counts of animal cruelty, two counts of possessing a firearm by a felon, one count of possessing ammunition by a felon, and negligent discharge of a firearm, Alexander Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release.
It seems insufficient to characterise him as evil, the presiding judge said. He set out to hunt individuals, and his level of brutality is incomprehensible. “You certainly have caused a lot of pain,” the judge informed the 42-year-old prisoner at the conclusion of the drawn-out sentencing hearing in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom. Alexander is currently a 43-year-old inmate at the Calipatria State Prison located in Calipatria, California. It is anticipated that he will stay there till the end of his natural life.
