Terry Thompson
Terry Thompson
Terry Thompson is an American resident of Texas. [undefined]
Personal Life
He is married to Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Shauna Thompson. [undefined]
Death of John Hernandez
Thompson putting John Hernandez in a chokehold
John Hernandez before his death at a Texas hospital after being choked by Terry Thompson
On May 28, 2017, Thompson drove up to a Denny's restaurant in the 17700 block of the Crosby Freeway at around 11:40 p.m. local time. His children were in the car with him as they waited to meet with his wife, Deputy Shauna Thompson who was off-duty at the time. [undefined] [undefined]
While waiting in the parking lot, Thompson saw John Hernandez urinating in public and went to verbally confront him about his behavior. An argument escalated between the two which led to a physical altercation. [undefined] [undefined]
A video of the incident was recorded by a bystander known to John.
[undefined] The video depicts Terry on top of Hernandez's back with a strong chokehold around his neck. [undefined] [undefined]
Hernandez is seen on the video kicking his back legs, and making audible sounds of struggle with Terry not letting go of him.
Hernandez died on May 31, 2017, after being taken off life support at Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital. His family made the tough decision to remove breathing tubes after it was determined by doctors that Hernandez was brain dead. [undefined] [undefined]
Investigation
On June 8, 2017 Terry Thompson and his wife Shauna Thompson were both indicted for murder in the death of John Hernandez. A grand jury handed down an indictment for murder in the case, and Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg and Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzales made the announcement Thursday afternoon. [1]
The charging document claims Terry Thompson, 41, caused Hernandez's death "by placing a strangulating hold on (Hernandez) and maintaining pressure while placing the weigh of the defendant's body on (Hernandez)."
Bond was set for the Thompsons at $100,000 each.
Both could face five years to life in prison if convicted.
An attorney for the the Thompsons stated that Hernandez was the aggressor in the incident, the Thompsons acted in self-defense, and that the video doesn't show everything that happened.