Regina Hernandez was a 5-year-old Hispanic girl who died on January 1, 2017, after a New Year’s celebration in Athens, Alabama turned into something unspeakably tragic. In the first minutes after midnight, a gunshot cracked through the night outside a home on Buckskin Drive, fired as part of the revelry. Instead of fading into the noise of the party, the round struck Regina, and the joy of the gathering collapsed into panic as adults realized a child had been hit.
She was rushed for help, but she was pronounced dead a short time later.
Investigators with the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office quickly focused on Fidel Rodriguez Canchola, then 34, who was identified as the person who fired the weapon. Authorities said he left the scene on foot after the shooting, and deputies located him a few hours later at his home that same morning. He was taken into custody and booked into the Limestone County Jail on a charge of criminally negligent homicide, with reports at the time describing the incident as an accidental shooting during the party.
As the case moved forward, the shooting drew federal attention because of the firearm involved and Canchola’s legal status in the United States. Federal prosecutors said he was unlawfully in the country at the time and had possessed the revolver used that night; when deputies found him, he admitted firing it, later maintaining he did not see Regina until she fell after being struck. In federal court, he pleaded guilty to the gun-possession charge tied to the fatal shot, a charge that carried a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
