SAN ANTONIO — A teen accused of killing 17-year-old Kaitlin Hernandez earlier this year will be tried as an adult in his murder trial, a judge ruled Monday.
Darryl Barrera, who turned 16 the same day he appeared in court, allegedly killed the teen in March and has been charged with capital murder. Hernandez's body was found in a ditch not far from her home in northeast San Antonio.
Monday's hearing was what is called a certify and transfer proceeding. In Texas, the prosecutor will ask the juvenile court to waive its original jurisdiction in order to try the defendant as an adult.
Loved ones of Hernandez, some of whom wore shirts with her face while they sat in Judge William "Cruz" Shaw's courtroom, said afterward that they were grateful for his ruling even as it doesn't make their journey easier.
"How we're feeling is numb and broken," a relative said. "Today is just day one. We have a long journey ahead of us."
On March 12, Hernandez's family told police she left their home on Dell Oak Drive to go for a walk with the suspect. She never came home.
Her body was found hours later, dumped in a nearby drainage ditch
The medical examiner says she died by strangulation. At the time, police said there wasn't enough evidence to connect the teen suspect to the crime.
But six weeks later, he was arrested and charged in the murder after DNA evidence results connected the boy to the case.
Darryl will remain behind bars on a $250,000 bond.