Andress High senior killed while repairing SUV, police say

Detectives with the police department’s Crimes Against Persons Unit are investigating the death a young man who died while repairing his vehicle.

Officers responded to the call and found 18 -year old Steve Cruz Hernandez dead lying in the street on the 10400 block of Sigma at about 4:45 pm on February 6, 2017.

The victim was found pinned underneath his SUV by a witness who pulled the victim from underneath the vehicle, police said.

Prior to working on the vehicle, a jack had been used to lift the SUV but jack-stands were not used to secure it.

“When I got the phone call from my mom to come home, ‘it’s urgent’ I had no idea it was going to be dealing with Steve,” said Bryan Hernandez, Steve’s older brother.

Hernandez, a senior in high school was already looking towards a future in mechanics.

“He always liked working on cars, even if they were ugly beat up cars. He liked them more because that meant he had to fix them up and he was going to CCT for diesel mechanics and welding,” Bryan Hernandez told ABC-7.

Bryan told ABC-7 his brother was also involved in athletics and joined a few teams at his school.

“He was always into football and wrestling, lifting weights, he would do anything as long as it was something he had to do outside,” Bryan Hernandez said.

Like many brothers Bryan and Hernandez had their tiffs but, “We knew at the end of the day it was out of love..so I’m going to miss spending time with him doing nothing,” Bryan Hernandez said.

Police said detectives are trying to find out if equipment failure or human error is to blame.

Officials did not explain why detectives with Crimes Against Persons are part of the investigation.

A spokesperson with EPISD told ABC-7 Cruz was a senior at Andress High School.

A Go Fund Me account has been setup to help the teen’s family.