Local News

ORLANDO (CBS4) ― A young man, a friend of a teenage boy accused of stabbing a friend to death in a Miam-Dade middle school bathroom, came to an Orlando court Tuesday, lucky to be alive. Andre Martin was apparently on a "hit list" Michael Hernandez maintained in a bizarre diary.

The day before he stabbed classmate Jaime Gough to death at Southwood Middle School four and a half years ago, Hernandez tried to lure Martin to the same bathroom stall.

"Did there come a time when the school bell rang while you were in the bathroom?" a prosecutor asked him Tuesday. "Yes," Martin responded. Martin was saved by the bell and hurried off to class.

The prosecutor questioned Martin about his friend. "What type of movies did Michael like?" Hernandez answered, "Horror movies." Martin said Hernandez was fascinated with horror and gore. In fact, a few months before the murder, Hernandez supposedly told Martin he thought he was crazy.

The defense attorney asked Martin if he thought Hernandez was insane. "In my opinion, back then at the time of this incident, he wasn't mentally stable," Martin replied, "but not insane." That's not the answer the defense was looking for in an insanity defense.

Hernandez watched expressionless on Tuesday as jurors were shown the four- inch, curved, serrated knife that he's accused of using to kill Gough, stabbing him more than forty times at Southwood Middle School in Palmetto Bay almost four and a half years ago.

The weapon was among items retrieved from Hernandez's book bag the day of the killing.

Det. Fernando Suco of the Miami-Dade police department testified to attorneys in court about the weapon, "Down here is the knife with the blood stains on it."

Also in his book bag was a blood-spattered red windbreaker along with a pair of latex gloves that he wore while stabbing his good friend. Jurors were shown photographs of other less ominous items in the backpack: school books, notepaper, and his lunch consisting of carrots, chips and dip.

Detective Fred Suco testified that Hernandez admitted involvement in Gough's murder and that his parents were called only after the boy had been questioned for hours. The state tried to counter any suggestion that police took advantage of their son.

In the courtroom, a prosecutor asked him, "At any time did the parents ask you to stop questioning their son?" Det. Suco answered, "No." The prosecutor then asked if, "At any time did the parents ask for an attorney?" The detective again answered, "No."

On cross examination, Hernandez's defense attorney brought out that his parents weren't told of any options they might have had. Defense attorney Richard Rosenbaum asked Det. Suco, "Did you tell them that they could ask that the questioning stop?" Det. Suco responded, "No."

Rosenbaum asked, "Did you tell them that they could ask for a lawyer for their son?" Det. Suco answered, "No."

Rosenbaum then countered, "Did you tell them that they could insist on being present while he was questioned?" The detective again was negative in his response. The defense is hoping to convince jurors that Hernandez, a fourteen year old, was unfairly manipulated into confessing.

Gough's mother and father have endured the presentation of bloody murder exhibits and Hernandez's graphic statement to police. On Tuesday, the last witness on the stand was the medical examiner, who  described the 42 stab wounds and gashes Hernandez inflicted on Gough.

"It's been very difficult for us to sit here," described Gough's father Jorge, "especially for my wife, to sit here and listen to his confession and the things that he did to my son."

On Monday, the jurors sat in rapt fascination as they watched the South Florida teen accused of killing a classmate confess to the murder while being questioned by police. Hernandez coldly and calmly confessed to killing Gough in a bathroom at the Southwood Middle School.

During initial questioning by Miami Dade homicide detective Salvatore Garafolo, Hernandez claimed that another student had killed Jaime because he had owed him money. On further questioning Hernandez eventually became caught up in a series of conflicting statements and finally confessed in a videotaped statement that he committed the murder.

If convicted, Hernandez faces life in prison.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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