Case Of Border Patrolman Killing Mexican Boy Dismissed

So this is how it breaks down. There were some Mexican teenagers running up to the U.S. border and touching the fence on June 7, 2010. A Border Patrol agent detains one of them. They throw rocks. He shoots them. One dies, 15 year-old Sergio Adrian Hernandez Güereca. The boy’s family sues the Border Patrol for the wrongful death of their son and then a judge throws the case out because the death took place in another country — Mexico.

Wow. Here’s a snippet from The El Paso Times:

Senior U.S. District Judge David Briones dismissed the case Aug. 11, according to court documents. The ruling basically says that because the boy was shot in Mexico, there are no statutes that would apply in suing the U.S. government.

There’s controversy as to whether he was a good boy as his family described him, or the kind of guy who crossed people into the U.S. illegally like the Border Patrol says. Whatever the case, a young man is dead due to what many consider to be excessive force and the legal system seems unable to handle it.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD.