Michael Hernandez

Less-than-lethal force

Deputies Erik Vawter and Brian McDevitt responded to a report of Michael Hernandez running naked outside his residence, choking his 3-month-old daughter and screaming that he had to remove the devil from her. The child's mother stabbed Hernandez several times with a kitchen knife before their baby wound up in the hands of a neighbor and Hernandez started choking the infant's mother. Neighbors intervened and held Hernandez face down outside his residence until deputies arrived at 3:38 a.m. and placed Hernandez in handcuffs. Both deputies attempted to speak with the suspect and when they rolled him over, they saw him foaming from the mouth. He then died.