18-Year-Old Charged for Murders of Boys in Elementary School Parking Lot
Photo: Jason Cornejo
UNION CITY — An 18-year-old male accused of murdering two boys outside a school has been charged with committing 29 felonies. His alleged accomplice is a juvenile male who also faces murder and other criminal charges.
Two boys from Union City were killed last year on November 23rd in the parking lot of Searles Elementary School. Sean Withington, 14, and Kevin Hernandez, 11, were fatally shot at approximately 1:30 a.m.
cannabis and weapons seized
Jason Cornejo from Castro Valley and a 17-year-old were identified as suspects during a multi-agency investigation. Their arrests on February 12 followed the seizure of firearms, methamphetamine, cannabis and wads of cash.
Union City PD received assistance from the California Highway Patrol and Alameda County Sheriff’s Office in this investigation. Police from Fremont, Hayward, Oakland and Richmond also assisted, along with other law enforcement agencies.
Cornejo and the juvenile were in custody for unrelated charges, when they were booked for the murders. Cornejo was chilling on weapons charges when the Alameda County District Attorney’s office filed 22 additional charges.
weapons seized
Besides the murders, Cornejo’s latest charges include participating in a criminal street gang, and various weapons charges and related enhancements.
The arrests of both suspects resulted from thousands of hours of investigation. A total of 32 investigators collaborated. Thus far, their work has included executing search warrants at six different locations. And this investigation is still ongoing involving the drug seizures.
In addition to recovering evidence related to the murders of the schoolboys, investigators recovered the following:
• 40 pounds of cannabis – street value $32,000
• 8 pounds of methamphetamine – street value $28,000
• Over $10,000 in cash
• 2 Handguns
• 3 assault weapons
• Several high capacity magazines and ammunition
