Michael Hernandez, a man who was convicted for killing one of his classmates when they were in middle school, has died in prison, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Hernandez, who was serving a life sentence for the 2004 murder, died on Thursday. He was 31 years old.
In 2004, authorities said, Hernandez lured his friend, Jaime Gough, into a bathroom stall at Southwood Middle School in Palmetto Bay and stabbed him more than 40 times. They were both 14 years old at the time.
In court, prosecutors said Hernandez was obsessed with serial killers and even had a hit list.
On that list, prosecutors said, was fellow student Andre Martin, who he’d planned to kill but did not succeed.
That student, Andre Martin, is now in his 30s and a Miami-Dade Police officer.
Hernandez gave a tearful apology in court during a resentencing hearing in 2016.
“For how much pain I caused you, I’m sorry,” he said.
In response at the time, Martin said, “I do not accept the apology. I found it to be not genuine.”
Gough’s parents, who were also in court that day, did not buy the apology either.
“I can look at his face, and I don’t believe him at all,” said Jorge Gough, the victim’s father.
Martin released a statement to 7News after learning of Hernandez’s death. It reads in part, “My continued condolences for Jaime Gough’s parents, and the entire Gough family … and the Hernandez family, they were not the ones who committed a crime, and they did lose a family member.”
As of Saturday night, it remains unclear how Hernandez died.
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