By: Abby McGuire and Noura Adel
The Hernandez v. Hillside Valley Charter High School district court case kicked off on February 20th, and both the defense and the plaintiff are in hot pursuit of justice. The case concerns high school tennis player Genesis Hernandez, who died of a stroke on April 21st, 2022. The stroke was caused by the performance enhancement drug (PED) boldenone. The jury ended up voting in favor of the defense-Hillside Valley High, which freed them from any responsibility in her death.
Here’s the breakdown of the case: Katarina Hernandez, mother of the victim, decided to pursue legal action towards the charter school. She believed that Derek Blazer, Genesis’ coach, was aware of boldenone usage within his team and overlooked it, preferring a triumphant team over his player’s health. Hernandez viewed Blazer as incompetent and negligent to the needs of her daughter and of the complaints she filed earlier concerning her daughter’s mental health and presumed PED usage. Her complaint wasn’t the only one. Genesis’s teammate and friend Fiona Patel reported her to Blazer as well, and no action was taken in response to her concerns.
The plaintiff hyperfocused on the neglect of the administration, specifically Blazer, during the trial. Blazer gave talks about the harms of PED to combat usage, but that was the extent of his actions against PEDs. In order to investigate an issue within their student body the administration needs physical proof, like screenshots or substances.
Blazer explained how as a school, they could only do so much, “She can’t blame us after we were doing all we could do to protect her,”.
However, when Genesis passed out at a practice, Blazer didn’t contact medical care or notify Hernandez because she was only passed out for 40 seconds, not 60.
School administrator and fellow witness Mia Thompson backed up his claim, stating,“The school takes proper actions.”
Thompson justified their lack of investigations due to the pain it could cause families, the schools’ reputation and students, along with the high costs of a drug usage investigation.
The turning point in the case comes down to the effects of boldenone. One of the key witnesses, Dr. Julia Ferry, explained on stand that boldenone couldn’t cause effects like the stroke Genesis suffered on its own- it would need to interact with another substance. Hernandez had been giving her daughter anti-anxiety medication, although Doctors didn’t prescribe them for Genesis. The defense, led by attorney Jackson Witherspoon, focuses on the negligence of Katarina in their argument, describing how her choice to pressure Genesis in her sport and encouraging her to take anxiety meds led to her stroke and subsequent death.
Blazer elaborated on issues with Hernandez during his testimony, explaining how he was initially nervous to promote Genesis to varsity after talking with Hernandez about her own past dreams of participating in Olympic tennis due to several injuries.
This case poses a question for all administrators: What constitutes evidence in a school environment? And what is the role of parents in contrast to the role of teachers? The jury voted in favor of the defense, shifting the blame of Genesis’ death into the hands of her mother.