Lester Santana Hernandez

Lester Santana Hernandez, a gifted artist and designer from Cuba, was a man known for his creative spirit. The 37-year-old, who worked as a plumber and freelance set designer, had a background in fine arts from the Academia de artes plásticas de Trinidad in his home country. In Florida, he was remembered as a carnival float designer, a creator, and a loving family man, leaving behind a wife and child. His life was abruptly and violently cut short on the evening of July 12, 2018.

Around 7:30 p.m. that Thursday, residents in a quiet Miami Lakes neighborhood heard the sound of a crash. A rented gray Volkswagen Jetta, traveling south on Northwest 89th Avenue, had veered off the road and struck a tree near the intersection with Northwest 146th Street. Witnesses saw a man get out of the driver's side, retrieve something from the car, and quickly flee the scene on foot. When neighbors approached the wrecked vehicle, they made a grim discovery.

The back window of the Jetta was shot out, and inside, slumped in the backseat, was Lester Santana Hernandez. He had been shot multiple times. Miami-Dade Police and paramedics responded to the scene, but it was too late; Hernandez was pronounced dead. The hit-and-run crash was now a homicide investigation. Police were unsure of the motive, with a detective publicly questioning whether the driver fled in fear or because he was responsible for the killing. The possibilities ranged from a targeted attack to a case of road rage.

The Miami-Dade Police Department took charge of the investigation, led by Detective Parmenter. A crucial piece of evidence emerged from a neighbor's surveillance camera, which captured footage of the man witnesses saw running from the car. The video showed him pacing on the sidewalk before breaking into a run and disappearing around a corner. Based on their investigation, police soon identified a person of interest: 32-year-old Jamal Head.

Head had an extensive and violent criminal history, including prior charges for armed robbery and attempted murder. Law enforcement launched a search for him, but the trail initially went cold. The manhunt came to a dramatic and fatal end just over a week later. On July 20, 2018, detectives with a fugitive warrant tracked Head to the Poinciana Lakes Apartments complex in Davie. When they attempted to arrest him, Head opened fire on the officers. A detective from the Hammocks district was shot in the arm during the exchange. Police returned fire, and Jamal Head was killed at the scene.

With the death of the primary suspect, the criminal case concerning the murder of Lester Santana Hernandez came to a close. Though no trial would ever take place, investigators had definitively linked Head to the crime. For Hernandez's family, the resolution brought a painful form of closure. They were left to mourn a man taken by a senseless act of violence, remembering him as a talented artist and a cherished loved one. The investigation officially concluded in July 2018, with the death of the man believed to be responsible.