Family of John Hernandez pleads with sheriff not to hire Chauna Thompson back
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Members of John Hernandez's family met outside the Harris County Sheriff's Office, pleading with Sheriff Ed Gonzales to not give Chauna Thompson her job back as a sheriff's deputy.
"We're not giving up, we're going to fight until the end and we're going to make sure Ed Gonzales hears us and doesn't hire her," says aunt Wendy Maldonado.
Thompson's husband, Terry Thompson, was convicted of killing Hernandez outside an east Harris County Denny's restaurant. Police say Thompson put Hernandez in a chokehold, ultimately resulting in Hernandez's death. Police say Chauna was also there at the time of the crime.
Prosecutors say cellphone video shows Thompson performing CPR on Hernandez, which they say is evidence that she didn't intend to commit the crime. Still, the family believes she's guilty and shouldn't get her job back.
"For her to come back and say she wants to be a police officer with Harris County again is a slap in the face to the public and to the Hernandez family," says activist Shere Dore.
The family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Thompson. They're hoping to get the chance to speak with Sheriff Gonzalez about this.
"We will be here, because at least morally, we will stop from her doing stuff like this again," says Hernandez's widow, Maria Toral.
ABC13 has reached out to the sheriff's office and district attorney for comment, but haven't heard back.
