May 19, 2013
A local Marine Corps deserter will answer the charges against him after being accused of killing his young wife.
District Attorney Ernie Lee said on February 19th, a grand jury indicted Juan Hernandez for killing his 20-year-old wife, Kandace, at their Wilson Avenue home in Richlands back in July of 2011.
Hernandez is scheduled to be in the Onslow County superior court for his arraignment on Tuesday afternoon.
On July 20th, of 2011, Sheriff Ed Brown told WITN that a woman had been shot at the Onslow County home in what appeared to be a domestic dispute. Deputies said they had been called to that house days before the shooting for a domestic disturbance.
The victim's parents told WITN they had spoken with their daughter via telephone minutes before she was killed, encouraging her to get a bus ticket and make her way home to Ohio.
Deputies said an argument over rent money and marijuana in the house ensued, and Kandace Hernandez was shot.
The suspect's brother, Jaime Hernandez, told WITN his brother acted in self defense. Jaime Hernandez was later arrested on cocaine charges stemming from the same Wilson Avenue home.
