Emily Hernandez: Capitol rioter, 22, out on bond kills 32-yr-old woman in drunken crash
A woman who rioted at the Capitol on January 6 last year and was out on bond reportedly killed a young mother and seriously injured another man in a drunken crash. Emily Hernandez, 22, crashed into another car when she was driving west in the eastbound lanes in Franklin County, Missouri, on Tuesday, December 4. The accident left 32-year-old Victoria Wilson, a passenger in a 2019 Buick Enclave, dead.
Both Hernandez and 36-year-old Ryan Wilson, the victim's husband who was driving the car in which she was sitting, were rushed to local hospitals for treatment, Missouri Highway Patrol said. On Wednesday night, December 5, Hernandez was booked on allegations that she was driving in an intoxicated state, killing a person and seriously injuring another.
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Talking to WMOV, Hernandez’s lawyer Ethan Corlija said that his client had to undergo surgery following the crash and was stable. “The exact circumstances of the accident are unclear,” Corlija said. “It’s unfortunate. I am heartbroken for the others involved.”
Corlija had defended Hernandez after the Capitol riot too. At that time, he had described her to reporters as 'the girl next door'. “It’s an unfortunate situation and it’s one she didn’t want to put herself in,” Corlija said at the time. “She’s willing to move beyond it, do the things she needs to do to make it right and get on with the rest of her life.” During the riot, Hernandez had appeared in photos carrying a broken sign from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. Her charging documents claimed that she posted photos of herself at the Capitol on Snapchat.
For her involvement in the riot, Hernandez was charged in district court, including knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority, disorderly conduct which impedes government business, stealing, disruptive conduct in the Capitol, and demonstrating in the Capitol.
Victoria Wilson is survived by her two sons, aged 10 and 15. “She had a heart of gold,” Victoria’s mom Tonie Donaldson told St Louis Post-Dispatch. Adding that her daughter was a home healthcare aide who worked with disabled people, she said, "Not everyone can work with mentally challenged children, and she’s done it since she was 13.”
After Hernandez turned herself into the FBI last year, prosecutors during a hearing did not recommend that she be jailed until her trial. She was released on bond back then. Donaldson mourned her daughter's death, questioning why Hernandez was not in custody. “Why is she still out?” Donaldson told the outlet. “With what she did to the government, why is she still walking the street? To me, she’s a piece of [expletive]. At 7 o’clock, you’re drunk and she got on the highway drunk?”