17-year-old killed by friend while on a walk, Texas cops say. ‘We knew him for years’

A male juvenile has been arrested in connection with the death of 17-year-old Kaitlin Hernandez, Texas police said.

San Antonio police said he was the last person to be seen with her before she was found dead.

“We knew him for years,” Hernandez’s aunt, Crystal Rodriguez, said at a news conference recorded by KSAT. “ ... We’re all traumatized.”

Hernandez’s body was found in a drainage ditch under a bridge after she was reported missing March 12, police said.

She had gone on a walk with her friend that night, police said.

“She was only supposed to go out for 30 minutes,” Hernandez’s grandmother told KSAT. “ ... When those 30 minutes were up, I got worried. I knew something was wrong.”

The teen’s body showed “signs of strangulation and a possible sexual assault,” police said.

The family told KSAT Hernandez knew the suspect for about two or three years, but he showed no concerning behaviors before her death.

The suspect was interviewed shortly after Hernandez’s body was found, but police said there was not enough evidence to charge him at the time.

DNA was taken from Hernandez’ body and her friend, then it was sent to the Bexar County Crime Lab, police said.

“Results indicated the suspect could not be excluded as a suspect in the sexual assault and murder of the victim,” according to police.

He has been taken into custody and an investigation is ongoing, police said. Authorities are not releasing his name because he is under the age of 18.

“In our mind and in our hearts, we felt it,” Rodriguez said. “It was just a matter of the evidence.”

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