A tragic incident unfolded on Saturday night in Pompano Beach, where a mother of three was killed in what authorities have described as a deliberate act of vehicular violence. Detectives from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office stated that 29-year-old Brenda Hernandez was intentionally struck and dragged by a pickup truck driven by her ex-partner, 32-year-old Edwin Amaya. The event was witnessed by the children at an apartment complex near South Cypress Road and Southwest Eighth Street.
According to Local 10 News, the vehicle involved was a white Ford F-250 pickup truck that Amaya is believed to have used to strike Hernandez twice. Following the attack, Omar Munguia Henrique, the father of two of Hernandez's children, reported that Amaya had been intoxicated and had made prior threats to commit violence, stating, "He was drunk" and had "threatened to shoot everyone before he turned the pickup into a weapon."
The aftermath of the assault was captured in cell phone video footage, which has been taken by the officers as evidence. Broward County Sheriff’s Office further reported that after running over Hernandez, Amaya then crashed into parked cars, dragging Munguia Henrique, who was also injured but survived, before fleeing the scene. Emergency services transported the victims to Broward Health North, where Hernandez succumbed to her injuries.
In a heartbreaking testament to the violence, Brenda Hernandez's daughter, Brittany Munguia, only 10 years old, conveyed the horror of watching her mother's fatal encounter with Amaya to 7News. "He said that he wanted to kill all the people who were there," Munguia recalled, recounting the suspect's words. Witnesses described how Amaya used his vehicle to pin Hernandez against another car, a scene Munguia and her siblings are unlikely to forget.
Shortly after the incident, deputies apprehended Amaya along South Dixie Highway, around half a mile from where the attack took place. He is now being held at the Broward County Jail on a charge of premeditated murder. As the family grapples with their loss, Hernandez's mother, Marlenia Amaya Vasquez, expressed her despair to 7News, saying, "What I want is my daughter, that they bring her back to me." The children are now left in the care of their grandmother and Munguia Henrique. A GoFundMe page has been established to help with the expenses of transporting Hernandez's body back to Honduras for burial.
