Angel Hernandez, known to family as Angelina Marie, was a 25-year-old Hispanic woman from San Antonio, Texas. Her mother, Diane Ruiz, remembered her as part of a close family, cherishing memories of Angel laughing and giggling with her brother. “We miss her every day,” Ruiz said after her daughter’s death.
In the early morning of April 18, 2024, Hernandez was visiting a friend at her apartment complex on Shaenfield Road. Around 12:56 a.m., she received a message and left the friend’s apartment to meet someone in the courtyard near the pool. Shortly after, she was found in the courtyard with a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
San Antonio police began an investigation, reviewing surveillance footage from the area. The footage showed a blue Dodge Charger stopping at the complex's rear gate. A man wearing a red hoodie was seen getting out of the car, jumping over the gate, and later running away from the complex after the shooting.
For several months, the case remained unsolved, and Crime Stoppers asked the public for help identifying the man in the video.
On September 2, 2024, after Crime Stoppers released a bulletin about the case, 23-year-old Reynaldo Orion Rios called 911 and turned himself in to authorities. According to an arrest affidavit, Rios confessed to the murder. He told investigators that he and Hernandez, who knew each other from high school, had arranged to meet that night because he owed her money. Rios claimed he shot her because he feared she would do something to him or his family if he could not repay the debt.
Following the arrest, Angel’s mother expressed her profound grief. She noted that friends had seen Rios out socializing after the murder. “He left her there like road kill,” Ruiz said. “Do I forgive him? Not at this time.” She said she wanted the justice system to hold him accountable for his actions. Rios was charged with murder. In October 2024, Judge Joel Perez sentenced Reynaldo Rios to 38 years in prison, concluding the case.
