DORAL, Fla. – Andre Martin is a detective with the Miami-Dade Police Department.
17 years ago, he went to school with both Jaime Gough and his killer Michael Hernandez.
Martin was shocked when he heard Hernandez died in prison last week.
“I don’t have many words for his passing, it doesn’t bring me joy or any solace or relief,” he said. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t bring back Jaime.”
Back in 2004, Gough’s body was found stabbed more than 40 times with his throat slit in the bathroom of Southwood Middle School.
Martin says the day before Gough was murdered by Hernandez, he too was lured into a bathroom stall.
In fact, he was on Hernandez’s hit list.
“The gravity of the situation becomes more and more apparent to me in adulthood than it did when I was 13 years old,” Martin said. “I come to terms that I could have lost my life that day. The impact is exponential.”
Knowing that he could have been one of Hernandez’s victims is part of the reason why he became a police officer.
“The deep dive into law enforcement because of this case, the depositions, the interviews with detectives and just the proximity of law enforcement really inspired me to be a police officer,” Martin said.
Hernandez died unexpectedly last Thursday at the age of 31 while serving a life sentence in prison.
The medical examiner’s office is working to determine the cause of death.
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