The Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office is asking the Texas Attorney General to withhold an affidavit for a man charged with murder because two unidentified minors are mentioned in the document.
The Monitor routinely requests probable cause affidavits for people charged with murder.
On March 7, the newspaper filed a Texas Public Information Act request for the affidavit regarding the arrest of 39-year-old Eric Gonzalo Hernandez, who is charged with shooting and killing 25-year-old Javier Cruz at around 10:15 p.m. on March 5 in the 100 block of Sioux Road in rural Alamo.
The district attorney’s office claims that it does not have to release the document that contains the unnamed minors because the location of the alleged offense, which the sheriff’s office has already publicly released, would identify the minors even though they are unidentified in the document.
The agency also claims the minors are the subject of an investigation into the abuse or neglect of the children.
The district attorney’s office routinely uses this logic in response to requests for affidavits from the newspaper even though child abuse charges have not been filed against the suspect.
Other law enforcement agencies routinely release these affidavits in response to requests from The Monitor.
As for the killing of Cruz, authorities allege Hernandez shot him after an argument.
Investigators say witnesses heard gunshots and saw Cruz fall to the ground while Hernandez ran from the scene.
Hernandez remains jailed on a $2 million bond.
