Third juvenile appears in court in zoo case
Hearing set for Aug. 21
By Bobbi Mlynar
Originally published 07:33 a.m., August 13, 2008
Updated 03:06 p.m., August 13, 2008
A hearing date has been set for the last of three children accused in the June break-in and animal deaths at the David Traylor Zoo of Emporia.
Hernan Hernandez, 11, will appear at 9 a.m. on Aug. 21 before Judge Lee Fowler in Lyon County District Court.
Hernan, members of his family, and his attorney, W. Irving Shaw, appeared before Magistrate Judge John Conklin Tuesday afternoon, when the hearing date was set.
Hernan, Angel Ray Rodriguez Jr., 13, and Andrew Rodriguez, 11, all were accused of burglarizing the zoo and killing two black swans and two cereopsis geese after the exhibit area was closed on Saturday, June 21. Zoo workers found the destruction early the following morning, when they came in to prepare for the zoo’s annual open house.
Hearings for the Rodriguez boys already have been set for the same time and place.
Shaw asked that Hernan be released from a detention center in Hutchinson and allowed to stay in Emporia so he could have better access to speak with the boy. Shaw has a temporary mobility issue and cannot travel easily.
Assistant Lyon County Attorney Rebecca Gerhardt told the judge the state did not believe the change would be appropriate under the circumstances, though cooperation would be possible.
“We’ll do what we can to make that happen,” she said of the meetings between attorney and client.
After Hernan's appearance Tuesday, family members asked to meet with him before he was returned to Hutchinson.
Biting his lips and fighting tears, the boy joined his family in a holding area adjacent to the court after Conklin granted the request for a brief meeting.
Emporiafan (anonymous) says...
tears huh? i am sure this kid is scared....bet those animals they brutally murdered had a little pain too....
August 13, 2008 at 4:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
socialmancan (anonymous) says...
These boys should have known better by their ages... However, when I was a kid, I did some stupid things too (mind you, I never killed anything other than legal game). We all have did things that we regret and I think that these boys are and will be sorry for what they did. After justice takes its course, we can only hope that they will be diverted/altered from committing further acts of crime. I forgive these kids for what they have done and i hope that they are actually "sorry" and ashamed of what they did. We can (and should) all forgive them, even though we may never be able to forget what has happened.
August 13, 2008 at 8:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )