Family, DFW lawyer sue ex-Border Patrol agent accused of stabbing infant son, ex-lover
A family and Dallas-Fort Worth law firm filed a $750 million wrongful death lawsuit against a former Border Patrol agent accused of stabbing his former lover and infant son to death in Laredo in 2018.
Grizelda Hernandez and her 20-month-old son, Dominic Alexander Hernandez, were killed in a wooded, secluded area yards away from the Rio Grande River and United States border in April 2018. They had been stabbed multiple times and left near a public park.
Dominic’s stroller and other belongings were strewn nearby, according to the lawsuit, which was filed April 9, two years to the day after Hernandez and her son’s death. Scott Palmer, a Dallas-based lawyer, and Snelson Law PLLC filed the suit in Webb County district court.
Hernandez, who was 28 when she died, had been in a romantic relationship with Ronald Anthony Burgos-Aviles, according to the lawsuit.
Burgos-Aviles was in a relationship with another woman, whom he had children with, while he was secretly seeing Hernandez, the lawsuit said. When Hernandez told Burgos-Aviles she was pregnant, he said he did not want any part in raising the child.
Hernandez, who was studying to become a nurse and had another son, lived with her mother, Mary Hernandez.
“(Hernandez’s) sons were her pride and joy and she endeavored to provide them with a stable and secure upbringing,” the lawsuit says. “Toward that end, she was a full-time student studying nursing and doing exceptionally well in her studies.”
However, Hernandez eventually found herself in need of money to raise her two sons while attending school. In the spring of 2018, she asked Burgos-Aviles for help with daycare and bills. Per the lawsuit, Burgos-Aviles was “resistant and irate” about Hernandez’s request, “which would likely reveal their relationship and harm his other romantic relationship and career as a Border Patrol Agent.”
On April 9, 2018, Burgos-Aviles told Hernandez and her son to meet him in a park.
There, Burgos-Aviles “bludgeoned Grizelda and his 20-month old son to death” with a knife, according to the lawsuit. He called into Border Patrol that he had found a body, but did not tell authorities he knew Hernandez, the Laredo Morning Times reported.
Burgos-Aviles was arrested shortly after and charged with two counts of capital murder. The state is seeking the death penalty.
Hernandez and Dominic’s deaths left a “painful void in the Hernandez family.”
“Gone are Grizelda, a beloved daughter, mother, and sister, and Dominic Alexander Hernandez, an adored grandson, brother, and nephew,” the suit says. “This void will never be healed.”
The lawsuit asks for $750 million in damages to the Hernandez family, including Grizelda Hernandez’s other minor son.
Burgos-Aviles’ trial was pushed back until March 2021 at a December hearing after his lawyers requested more time to prepare, KGNS reported.
