On Saturday November 23, 2019 at approximately 01:26 AM, Union City Police Department received multiple 911 calls from citizens reporting gun shots heard in the area of Sherman and Colgate Drive in Union City. Officers responded to the area and located two male victims who had suffered gunshot wounds. The victims were in a parking lot of Searles Elementary School (located near the 1800 block of Sherman Drive). One fourteen-year-old victim identified as Sean Withington of Union City was pronounced deceased at the scene. The second victim, eleven year-old Kevin Hernandez of Union City was pronounced deceased while in route to a local trauma center.
Union City Police Department requested assistance from our law enforcement partners during this nearly three-month long investigation. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, the Hayward Police Department, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, California Highway Patrol Special Operations Unit and the California Department of Justice all partnered with Union City Police Department. Each of these organizations dedicated resources, equipment and expertise to work side by side with our detectives. The combined efforts of over 32 investigators and thousands of hours of investigation resulted in the granting of search warrants at six different East Bay locations. Those locations included four properties within the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office jurisdiction (including a 33- acre, multi-unit compound), one property in Hayward Police Department’s jurisdiction and one location in Richmond Police Department’s jurisdiction.
On Thursday February 6, 2020, search warrants were served by the Union City Police Department with the assistance of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, the Hayward Police Department, the Oakland Police Department, the Richmond Police Department and the Fremont Police Department. As a result of those search warrants, we seized:
- Approx. 40 lbs. of Marijuana – Street Value $32,000
- Approx. 8 lbs. of Methamphetamine – Street Value $28,000
- Over $10,000 in Cash
- 2 Handguns
- 3 Assault Weapons
- Several High Capacity Magazines and Ammunition
- Other Pieces of Evidence Related to the Double Murder
The District Attorney’s Office and the Juvenile District Attorney’s Office reviewed the criminal investigation and associated evidence for two suspects in this murder. One suspect is an adult and the other suspect is a juvenile. As a result, 18-year-old Jason Cornejo from Castro Valley and a 17 year-old juvenile from Hayward have both been charged with the murders of Kevin Hernandez and Sean Withington. Both suspects were already in-custody on other unrelated charges.
