El Camino College The Union • September 29, 2021 • https://eccunion.com/news/2021/09/29/family-and-friends-gather-to-remember-ecc-students-death-one-year-later/
Family and friends gather to remember ECC student’s death one year later
A year ago on Sept. 22, 2020, 21-year-old El Camino College student, Juan Carlos Hernandez-better known to those closest to him as "Cookie"-was murdered sometime after his night shift inside a Los Angeles dispensary where he worked. His body was later discovered buried in a shallow grave in a remote area of the Mojave Desert on Nov. 15, 2020-about a month later from what would have been his 22nd birthday, according to a District Attorney's press release. On Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, family and friends reunited during a Memorial Mass to honor his memory at the Saint Vincent de Paul Parish in Los Angeles. As part of the memorial, the Hernandez family would travel to the dispensary site where they would place a sidewalk memorial and make a final stop at the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery to place flowers and decorate the tombstone where a portion of Hernandez's ashes lie. Photo by Jose Tobar/The Union Photo credit: Jose Tobar
By Jose Tobar
A year ago on Sept. 22, 2020, 21-year-old El Camino College student, Juan Carlos Hernandez was murdered sometime after his night shift inside a Los Angeles dispensary where he worked ended.
Hernandez, better known to those closest to him as “Cookie,” was an engineering major while attending ECC. He had plans to transfer to USC and graduate from there like his older brother, Joseph Hernandez had before him.
However on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020, his body was discovered by the authorities in a remote area of the Mojave Desert buried in a shallow grave, according to a District Attorney’s press release.
That same year on Oct. 15, he would have turned 22-year-old.
On Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, family and friends reunited during a Memorial Mass to honor his memory at the Saint Vincent de Paul Parish in Los Angeles.
As part of the memorial, the Hernandez family would travel to the dispensary site where they would place a sidewalk memorial and make a final stop at the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery to place flowers and decorate the tombstone where a portion of Hernandez’s ashes lie.
Yajaira Hernandez led the memorial with the full support of her family and friends, just as they had in previous efforts to find her son.
Editors note: Photo alignment and photo captions appearing outside of caption box were corrected on Wednesday, Sept. 29 at 10:35 p.m.
Editors Note: Photos resized for readability Dec. 7 at 12:16 a.m.