Relatives disagree over whether the 15-year-old acted to protect his family or should face a murder prosecution.
HARRIS COUNTY, TX — A 15-year-old boy has been charged with murder months after his father died following a family confrontation in west Harris County, a case that has divided relatives over whether the teenager was acting in defense of his family.
The charge stems from a May 5 disturbance at a home in the 21400 block of Sagrantino Court. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said 35-year-old Samson Hernandez became involved in an altercation with his estranged wife’s boyfriend. Investigators said the confrontation moved into the front yard, where Hernandez’s teenage son intervened and placed his father in a chokehold until law enforcement arrived. Hernandez later died. Authorities have not publicly released all of the evidence that led prosecutors to approve the murder charge.
Deputies were called to the home at about 3:45 a.m. after a woman reported a family disturbance. According to local reports citing the sheriff’s office, Hernandez no longer lived at the residence. Deputies found him unresponsive when they arrived, and he was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Homicide detectives and crime scene investigators began investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.
The sheriff’s office later presented its findings to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors approved a murder charge against the teenager, and the sheriff’s office listed a homicide release for the Sagrantino Court address on Oct. 29. The teenager was taken to the Harris County Juvenile Center. Authorities have not publicly identified him because he is a minor.
Kandice Stofel, the teenager’s great-aunt, told ABC13 that she believes the boy intervened because he was trying to protect his mother. Stofel, who said she was not present during the confrontation, described the family as shocked by the decision to bring a murder charge. She said relatives had viewed the incident as an act of self-defense and believed the teenager intended to restrain his father until officers arrived rather than cause his death.
Stofel also said the teenager had no previous juvenile record or history of problems with law enforcement. Those statements reflect the family’s account and have not been independently confirmed through juvenile court records, which are generally not publicly available in the same way as adult criminal records. The sheriff’s office has declined to release additional investigative details because the accused is a juvenile.
Another part of Hernandez’s family has taken a different position. His older sister, Chasity Salazar, told ABC13 that she supports the murder charge and wants her brother’s death fully prosecuted. Salazar also was not present during the confrontation. She said her understanding of the case came in part from conversations with the sheriff’s office and said she believes the teenager should face adult consequences.
The competing family accounts underscore a central issue that has not been resolved publicly: what investigators determined about the teenager’s actions and whether prosecutors believe the circumstances legally support a murder charge rather than a lesser offense or a claim of justified force. The sheriff’s office has said its findings were presented to prosecutors, but juvenile court records containing additional details were not available for public review in reporting on the case.
It also remains unclear whether prosecutors will seek to have the teenager handled as an adult. That decision involves a separate legal process and has not been announced. The filing of a murder charge is an allegation, and the teenager has not been convicted. Questions about his intent, the circumstances of the physical confrontation and any possible self-defense argument will be matters for the juvenile court process unless the case is transferred.
The sheriff’s office has said the investigation remains ongoing. No additional public court records or official findings explaining the full basis for the murder charge had been released as of Sunday, leaving the two families grieving the same death while taking sharply different positions on how the case should proceed.
Author note: Last updated November 1, 2026.