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Girl's Death Rocks High School

Hernandez Shot, Killed During Robbery

POSTED: 11:24 am PST October 31, 2005
UPDATED: 5:21 pm PST October 31, 2005

Students at Southwest High School in Nestor are remembering fellow classmate Donna Hernandez, who was shot to death during a robbery on Friday.

"She was outgoing, fun and lovable. I don't see how anyone could do this to her," friend Vanessa Lopez said.

"She's our star in the sky -- she loved them and now she's one of them," friend Jackie Higuerra said.

School officials have set up a crisis center for distaught students.

"Any student who has particular problems dealing with their grief, we will send those students to the crisis center where counselors are available," Sweetwater Union District Superintendent Ramon Lyeba said.

Students wore lime-green T-shirts and carried lime-green balloons in honor of Hernandez.

"Her favorite color was lime-green," a friend told 10News.

A video mantage played throughout campus, remembering Hernandez.

Authorities say two men approached the car where Hernandez, 17, and her friends were sitting after the school's homecoming game and demanded their wallets and cell phones. The men fled after firing into the car window, hitting Hernandez in the torso. She died at the scene.

Samson Mendoza, 21, and Basilio Bernard, 22, were arrested at a fast-food restaurant about three hours after Hernandez was shot.

The suspects had been living about a mile away at the Job Corps Center, police said.

Detectives searched their rooms and found property stolen during the robbery and a gun believed to be the weapon used to kill the girl, according to police.

It was unclear which man pulled the trigger. Both are expected to be charged with murder and robbery.

Katie Woods is in the San Diego Job Corps and says she was in the same class as one of the suspects.

"Everyone said he was a little crazy, but I didn't pay any attention to it," Woods said.

Woods also says both men were popular students.

"A lot of females liked Samson -- he was a ladies man," Woods said.

Job Corps Center employees say approximately 600 young men and women live and attend the trade school.

The two suspects, who are from Oceanside and San Diego, freely walked off campus Friday night, 10News reported.

Hernandez had dreams of attending USC and one day becoming a surgeon. Now her friends are helping her family pay for a funeral.

Family members have set up a bank account for donations. So far, friends of Hernandez have raised $4,000. Call (619) 628-3023 to donate.


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