Written by: Endurance Nkeh and Kaitlyn Bendon
The jury has come up with a verdict regarding the controversial case over the death of 11th-grade student Genesis Hernandez. Following up on a previous article, “Game, Set, Tragedy: Tennis Star’s Death Sparks Doping Scandal at Local High School”, the jury has found Hillside Valley Charter High School guilty of the death of the rising tennis star.
During his previous testimony, the varsity tennis coach admitted to not tolerating laziness and pushing his athletes to their limits. After Hernandez’s death, Blazer admitted to athletic director Simon Valdez that he suspected that her death had to do with performance-enhancing drugs. Blazer also admitted that coaches are required to report complaints if they have evidence, however, they are also allowed to open a formal investigation at their discretion. The question now begs as to why varsity coach Derek Blazer did not open a formal investigation after receiving two complaints from both a concerned parent and a concerned teammate regarding the use of performance-enhancing drugs on the tennis team.
Athletic Director Simon Valdez was also put on the stand, and as the prosecution cross-examined him, he stated that Hernandez’s mother, Katarina Hernandez went to him with the same complaint of PED usage on the tennis team. He had the ability to open a formal investigation but he did not. Even after Hernandez’s death, the high school has not updated its policies regarding PED use.
Mia Thompson, the Chief Education Officer of the County, stated that the workshop designed for freshmen at the beginning of their high school journey could have given students the knowledge needed to inject certain performance-enhancing drugs. Simon Valdez, the school’s athletic director, backed up this statement. Student-athletes were only required to do this workshop once at the beginning of their freshman year of high school. The workshop not only taught these students how to inject certain PEDs such as Boldenone, the same PED found in the body of Hernandez, but also gave them extensive knowledge of steroids.
Thompson stated on the stand that there were “No prior incidents at the high school regarding PED usage.” Despite this fact, the school had no preventative measures in place for PED usage. Thompson also stated that the school’s policies could have done more such as requiring drug testing or semester-long modules on PED usage. However, the school’s policies reflected those of the county and nothing more.
Throughout the case, the defense stated that the blame for Hernandez’s death should go to the family because the deceased’s own mother did not notice the symptoms of PED use in her child. Hernandez was on track to be recruited by her top-choice university, Stanford, with a full-ride scholarship. Hernandez was one of three children to a single mother and her family did play a part in her death by not noticing the signs and not pushing the school to open an investigation. The negligence of the school exceeded the negligence of the family. As the jury passed their verdict, justice for tennis star Genesis Hernandez was finally realized.