Mother forgives drunk driver who killed her son

A horrific crash in El Paso’s Lower Valley two-and-a-half years ago was relived this week.

A man driving drunk up to 100 miles an hour on North Loop by Lancaster Elementary School killed a 13-year-old boy and nearly killed his older sister.

Thursday, Julian Tapia learned he’ll spend as many years behind bars as Pablo Hernandez got to live. Tapia was sentenced to 13-years in prison for intoxicated manslaughter with a vehicle and intoxicated assault with a vehicle causing serious bodily injury.

The Hernandez family spoke with ABC-7 about the tragedy that ripped their family apart and brought them closer than they’ve ever been.

“I don’t wish this on anybody, not even (Tapia), I don’t,” said Joe Hernandez, who still struggles with the death of his son Pablo at the hands of Tapia back in 2014. The tragedy also left his daughter Isabel’s body mangled and facing years of rehabilitation. “I’ve never met anyone as strong as her,” Hernandez said.

“You never get over it,” Patricia Hernandez, Pablo’s mother, added. “Time does not heal all wounds, it doesn’t.”

Patricia Hernandez doesn’t feel 13 years in prison is enough for the man who killed her son. “13 are the years that my son had,” she said. “A lifetime for him wouldn’t have been enough, because it doesn’t bring my son back, it doesn’t give Isabel her physical health.”

“I’ve gotten used to the physical part of it, even though it is hard,” Isabel Hernandez said. “I struggle more emotionally now.”

Isabel Hernandez, now a freshman at UTEP studying psychology, is focused on helping others who face tragedy. “That’s why I want to go into psychology, because I do have this first hand experience, that will make me wise,” she said.

Patricia and Isabel both read victim’s impact statements to Tapia prior to his sentencing. Tears streamed down Tapia’s face as he faced his victims.

“I didn’t know he had cried, my husband told me and he did seem remorseful,” Patricia Hernandez said. “So it helps, for him to feel that. It helps me forgive him.”

“I guess it gave me a little peace that he was remorseful, i saw it in him,” Joe Hernandez said. “But I just miss my son.”