Esequiel Zeke Hernandez Jr. was an 18-year-old high school student who was shot and killed on May 20, 1997, while herding goats near Redford, Texas, about one mile from the U.S.–Mexico border.

The shooting prompted a congressional investigation and a grand jury review; the Justice Department also investigated but ultimately dropped its inquiry and no criminal charges were filed against the Marines. The Marine Corps conducted a separate inquiry. In 1998 the U.S. government paid the Hernandez family $1.9 million to settle a wrongful death claim. The case influenced policy: Secretary of Defense William Cohen temporarily suspended troop patrols near the border, and the incident later inspired a feature film and a documentary.

What information do readers have about the patrol presence in Redford in 1997 or about Esequiel Hernandez’s activities that day?