NEWS Capitol Stormer Arrested in Fatal Crash
Hernandez was charged in January 2021 with five misdemeanors and allowed to remain free as her case proceeded.
Written by
DOYLE MURPHY
E
ily ernande , fil ed a year ago parading the shards of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s nameplate through the U.S. Capitol, was arrested in Franklin County on the anniversary of the attack on suspicion of drunkenly killing a woman in a car crash. Hernandez, 22 of Sullivan, was going the wrong way about 7 p.m. this January 6 on Interstate 44 near St. Clair, driving a Volkswagen Passat west in the eastbound lanes when she collided with a Buick Enclave, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The Buick’s passenger, 32-year-old Victoria Wilson of St. Clair, was killed. Her husband, Ryan Wilson, 36, was injured and taken to Missouri Baptist Medical Center. Victoria Wilson was a mother of two, according to a GoFundMe page created to help the family pay for her funeral. The post says her husband would need surgery. Hernandez, who was also injured, was taken to Mercy Hospital. The highway patrol arrested her on charges of driving while intoxicated resulting in death and driving while intoxicated resulting in serious physical injury. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported Hernandez’s connection to the Capitol riots. Her attorney in that case, Ethan Corlija, told the newspaper he had visited her in the hospital and that the crash was a “tragic event.” “My heart goes out to the other motorist who lost their life and family,” Corlija told the daily. Hernandez pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in the Capitol case on Monday. She was charged in January 2021 and allowed to remain free as her case proceeded, a common arrangement in the Capitol cases with low-level charges.
9
Emily Hernandez on January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol. | DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE She was part of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the building on January 6, 2021, as rioters sought to overturn the results of the presidential election. Members of Congress were forced into hiding for
hours as the intruders threatened to kill lawmakers, including Vice President Mike Pence and Pelosi. Footage from the scene showed Hernandez gleefully carrying Pelosi’s broken nameplate through
the Capitol after members of the mob ransacked congressional offices. Five people died in connection with the attack, and more than 700 people have been charged in the year since. Hernandez reportedly rode to the rally with her uncle, William Merry, and his friend, Paul Westover. All three were fil ed together alongside rioters. Merry and Westover have already pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges. n
BJC Cancels Elective Surgeries as COVID-19 Surges in Missouri Written by
DANNY WICENTOWSKI
O
verwhelmed by rising COVID-19 cases, BJC HealthCare announced last week that it was postponing all elective surgeries effective January 6. The hospital system is contending with more than 500 COVID-19 cases, leaving nurses and staff “stretched to their limits” amid a wave of infections that’s seen the St. Louis region break case records in recent days. “This is beyond anything we’ve seen thus far in the pandemic,” a hospital spokesperson said in a news release. “This decision was not made lightly and reflects our current challenge as cases continue to rise and resources continue to be strained.” The news release noted that patients with procedures scheduled “that are not considered urgent” will be contacted by a staff member about postponing. The announcement arrives as COV-
BJC staffers are “stretched to their limits,” says the hospital system. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI ID-19 cases have risen to unprecedented levels. On January 4, the day before BJC’s announcement, St. Louis area hospitals reported more than 1,000 cases. The wave is slamming into health systems across Missouri and surrounding states: Dr. Steven M. Brown, who manages more than 100 ICU patients as part of Mercy’s Virtual Care Center in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, tweeted that he is caring for dozens of seriously ill unvaccinated patients. “If they are conscious, most are strug-
riverfronttimes.com
gling to breathe,” he wrote, urging people to be vaccinated before they are infected. “The rest are life support in drug-induced comas.” The numbers aren’t just going up in large metro areas like St. Louis and Kansas City. Saint Louis University professor Chris Prener, who tracks and analyzes COVID cases, wrote last week that the “outstate” region is starting to see an increase as well, and that the trend is “higher than it has been at any point since last January.” n
JANUARY 12-18, 2022
RIVERFRONT TIMES
9
