Xavier Hernandez

Xavier Guadalupe Hernandez was a 30 year old man from El Paso, Texas, whose death in police custody in the summer of 2025 became the subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit and sustained community advocacy. He was not a public figure before his death. He became known, posthumously, because of the circumstances in which he died and the questions his family and civil rights groups have raised about how El Paso police officers handled a person in a mental health crisis.

On the morning of Sunday, July 13, 2025, El Paso police were called to Interstate 10 East near Yarbrough Drive after reports of a pedestrian creating a hazard on the roadway. Officers said Hernandez was attempting to jump from the highway and became uncooperative when they tried to restrain him, and that he was tased as a result. Hernandez's family and their attorneys, Robert Melendez and Jeff Edwards, have given a different account, saying Hernandez was unarmed, held his hands up and asked officers for help and for 911 to be called, before he was tased multiple times, choked and had pressure applied to his neck while on his knees and later while prone on the ground. According to the family's account, officers continued to apply body weight to his back and neck for nearly ten minutes after he had been handcuffed and subdued.

Hernandez became unresponsive during the restraint. Officers performed CPR and he was taken to Del Sol Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. He was 30 years old.

The El Paso County Medical Examiner later ruled the death a homicide, a medical and not a legal or criminal term, with the specific cause listed as asphyxia due to chest compression during law enforcement subdual and restraint. Cocaine toxicity was identified as a contributing factor. His mother, Angelica Lujan, has publicly stated the family did not know he had used drugs and has argued the detail does not explain how he died.

The El Paso Police Department released body camera footage of part of the encounter, which the family's attorneys say contains gaps, and have asked any bystanders with video, photographs or firsthand accounts to come forward. In January 2026, the family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of El Paso, the Police Department and several named officers, alleging excessive force. The department has said the matter is being reviewed through two internal investigations and an independent investigation by the Texas Rangers, and that the lawsuit's allegations have not been adjudicated.

On October 1, 2026, LULAC held a rally outside the El Paso courthouse, calling on local, state and federal officials to engage publicly with the family's concerns and to disclose the status of the pending investigations once they are complete. The organization said it was not asking anyone to prejudge guilt or liability, only for transparency. Hernandez is survived by his mother and other relatives, who have described his death as needless and continue to press for accountability. No funeral or memorial details have been made public.