A San Antonio man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for gunning down his lifelong best friend during what was supposed to be a simple tennis-shoe purchase. Daniel Hernández Jr., who was 18 at the time of the April 2024 shooting, shot 18-year-old Ricky De Los Santos with an AK-47-style rifle, and De Los Santos died that night after naming his killer to investigators before he passed.
Sentence Comes More Than Two Years After the Shooting
The Bexar County District Attorney's Office said Hernández was sentenced on Monday, according to KSAT. The 30-year sentence was handed down in the 227th District Court, presided over by Judge Christine Del Prado, as reported by FOX San Antonio. Court records cited by KENS 5 confirm Hernández, now 20, was convicted of murdering De Los Santos during that tennis-shoe transaction.
Authorities determined that in April 2024, Hernández and co-defendant Diego Salazar went to purchase a pair of tennis shoes from De Los Santos, per FOX San Antonio's reporting. The shooting happened around 1 a.m. in the 2000 block of South Loop 1604 Eastbound, according to KSAT's original coverage from that week. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said at the time that Hernández and De Los Santos had known each other since they were children.
Victim Named His Killer Before Dying
Before he died, De Los Santos identified Hernández as the shooter, information prosecutors said gave investigators critical details that led to Hernández's arrest, FOX San Antonio reported. De Los Santos was 18. Hernández was later convicted of murdering De Los Santos.
Diego Salazar, who was 17 at the time, was also arrested and charged in connection with the case, accused of driving Hernández to De Los Santos' home that night, according to court records referenced by KENS 5. In an April 12, 2024, story, News 4 San Antonio reported Salazar was apprehended earlier that afternoon on a murder warrant; a separate KSAT report said he was arrested Friday afternoon, April 12, 2024, and was believed to be the driver who brought Hernández to the scene. Salazar was charged with first-degree felony murder and held on a $150,000 bond.
Co-Defendant Still Awaiting His Own Day in Court
Salazar's case has not concluded in the same way Hernández's has. According to KENS 5, he is scheduled for sentencing on November 4, 2026. For two teenagers described by Sheriff Salazar as having grown up together, the case has stretched from a late-night shoe deal gone fatally wrong into more than two years of court proceedings, with Hernández now facing three decades behind bars and his co-defendant's outcome still pending.
