Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - 12-Year-Old Murdered Protecting Sisters and Mom From Her Ex: Sheriff

Episode Date: March 11, 2024

Carlos Fernandez, 12, was shot to death in his family's apartment outside of Houston early last Monday after running to help his mother after hearing someone breaking in. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says the father of Carlos' younger half-sisters, Terry Bryan Rivera, fired the shots into the apartment and took off. Now Rivera's mother is behind bars accused of helping him flee as detectives search for him. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy breaks down the disturbing case and the search for Rivera in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show that delves into the biggest stories in crime.Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoAudio Editing - Brad MaybeGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@LawandCrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law & Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Carlos should have been waking up like many other mornings and heading to school and continue to learn. And it's not only a loss for the family, but also a loss for our community. We lose the promise of a young mind, of a young child that could have been something great. A 12-year-old boy murdered. His family says he died protecting them. Now a manhunt is underway for the man deputies say killed, Carlos Fernandez. But we desperately need the community's help in locating him. Thanks for joining me for Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Carlos Fernandez was a sweet 12-year-old boy. His family described

him as smart, fun, and caring. They said in his obituary that he lit up every room, and you can kind of see that in all of the photos of him. Like many boys his age, he liked to play video games and basketball, and he enjoyed playing outside with his sisters and his cousins. But all of that came to an end on March 4th, when the Harris County Sheriff says this man, Terry Brian Rivera, shot and killed Carlos at his family's apartment outside of Houston. Here's one of the homicide detectives with the Sheriff's Office. On March 4th, deputies responded to a shooting call

at the 13,900 block of Alderson. It's culminated in this tragic event, the shooting death of Carlos Fernandez. Through the course of the investigation, we identified a suspect, Terry Rivera. We filed a capital murder charge from Mr. Rivera, and we're seeking the public's any information the public may have as to where his whereabouts are. Now, this case is incredibly disturbing. And one thing that makes it even more so is the fact that Terry Bryan Rivera had been to the apartment where Carlos lived with his mom and sisters a couple of days before he's accused of shooting and killing Carlos. I'm aware as well that there was a previous call for service Friday night involving Terry

arriving there at the apartment complex, creating a disturbance. During his involvement there, he did brandish a gun. He did assault Ashley, allegedly, and that's what we did. Our deputy spent between 30 to 45 minutes on that scene that night collecting information and also contacting the district attorney's office. At the end, it was decided that charges weren't accepted at that time based on the information that was available. And it didn't go further in terms of at that moment, a report was generated by our deputy. It appears that the deputy did the most that the deputy could do at that point. And the case was to be continued or sent over for

additional follow-up investigation. Terry Rivera had two children with Carlos's mother, Ashley Rostro. Rostro had told police that Rivera tried to get into the apartment, reaching into a window and pushing a TV off of the dresser. Carlos then sprang into action. I also want to just mention just what a heroic act he did to the very end. It's my understanding that I initially thought he was sleeping in the room, but it's my understanding he was sleeping, I think, in the living room. And when he heard the commotion, he could have just hidden. He could have ran a mom or somebody or done something else.

He ran to the danger. He ran to go check on his sisters, six and seven years old, to protect them. And in some ways he did because that bullet could have easily injured one of them. And he'd be with us, but it would have been tragic nonetheless. But the fact that he went to investigate himself to go see what was happening, to see what was commotion really speaks to his strength, the hero that he was, the young man that he was. Again, I could only imagine how much greatness was going to come from Carlos Fernandez as he continued to grow up. And it's a loss for our community.

Can you imagine a 12-year-old boy running toward noise, being hit by a bullet that could have actually hit his two younger sisters, who were actually Terry Rivera's children? The sheriff says Rivera fired into that apartment through the open window. The affidavit charging Rivera with Carlos' murder includes chilling details. It says that Carlos's mother, Ashley, told police she was asleep when she heard someone say, yeah, what's up? What's up? And then the shots were fired. Ashley Rostro told police she was 100% sure the voice she heard was Terry Rivera's. The affidavit says Rostro told police that Rivera called her from a blocked number and she told him you were just here and he responded I know I know. Now there are a lot of questions about why Rivera wasn't arrested for the incident the Friday before when he is accused of assaulting Carlos's mother showing

up at the apartment with a gun. First of all he wasn't, so there was no one to arrest at the scene. Charged. Charged, yeah. Charged, but arrested, he wasn't on the scene. As far as charged, it's my understanding, I obviously wasn't there, but based on our review, that the elements of the crime of what was conveyed at the scene and passed on to the district attorney's office in its review, which is customary for us to contact them as they listen to the elements of the crime and what we had. Certain elements they felt weren't made while there was a weapon present. It wasn't already pointed or directly at someone other than having it present

and again, needed more follow-up. I think the gun was pointed at a vehicle and threats to shoot up the vehicle. The gun was present. And then there were also aspects of the assault happening. There's not always charges filed immediately at the scene. It's not uncommon for it to be sent over for additional follow-up investigation. So was this an issue with the DA's office or the sheriff's office handling of the complaint at the scene? There was a threat made with a gun. Sheriff Gonzalez said they're reviewing the incident and how it was handled. And in hindsight, they wish that Rivera had been locked up. But ultimately, Sheriff Gonzalez said Rivera is responsible for what happened, for killing Carlos.

At the press conference, where the sheriff and Carlos' family pleaded with the public for help in finding Terry Rivera, Carlos' uncle talked about his nephew and how sweet he was. You know, losing my nephew, you know, that's probably one of the hardest things we've had to deal with, just because he was the life of the family, you know, always in a good mood, always positive, never seen him mad. He was a protector all the way to the very end, you know. He always protected, whether it was his cousins, whether it was his sisters, his mom. He always put everybody else in front of him. And for this tragic event to happen is just, it's ridiculous. You know, you know, we have to protect our kids out here, you know, and when you got people like this just out here not caring and it's crazy.

And there's another twist to all of this. Rivera's mother, Alva Cornejo, has been charged with hindering the apprehension of her son. Her bail was set at $25,000 on Monday morning. Meanwhile, Rivera has a long rap sheet. Now he faces a capital murder charge for Carlos' death. And the sheriff has a warning for anyone else who might be helping him hide. He's still on the run. He's still on the run.

He's still wanted for capital murder and we're not going to rest until we find him. And we also want to send a very strong message to anyone that may be hiding him out or assisting him that you too will be followed on. And we'll encourage that if you're out there trying to conceal him, hide him, assist them or anything. He's a wanted, he's wanted for capital murder, the highest charge possible. And so we want to make sure that we're doing everything possible to locate him and that no one's out there assisting him because you will be filed on as well for doing that. Anyone who can help capture Terry Rivera can call Crime Stoppers. That number is 713-222-8477 or more simply 713-222-TIPS. That's it for this edition of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy.

Thanks so much for joining us. We'll see you back here tomorrow night. Until then, have a great night. You can download Crime Fix on Apple, Spotify, Google, and wherever else you get your favorite podcasts and new episodes post each weeknight at 6 Eastern time on Law and Crime's YouTube channel. Daniel Camacho does our video editing. Our head of social media is Bobby Zoki. Our senior director of social media is Vanessa Vine. Savannah Williamson is one of our producers.

Diane Kay and Alyssa Fisher book our guests. And Brad Mabey is our audio editor.