“He Was Going to Kill Us” 13-Year-Old Fights Stepfather Who Strangled His Mother | Darnel Hernandez-Lopez

At, uh, around 8pm on March 9, 2026, a 13 year old boy in Foley, Alabama was handed a phone by his mother and told to call the police while she was being attacked inside their home. She had managed to sneak away long enough to get the phone into his hands. According to her, her husband, Darnell Hernandez Lopez, had been quote, threatening to kill everyone in the house because he was high on drugs and, and he was drunk. Welcome lambs. Welcome to your surprise Saturday episode. This is actually an article that I wrote on and it was just so satisfying that I wanted to bring it to you. Now this I would normally put in the Patreon for my lam fam patreon.com loveandmurder but I decided to just put it out for everybody. Um, this case shows the impact of domestic violence on children. You know, well, one of the cases, because you know all of the cases I do that does show the uh, impact of domestic violence on children. This one shows that even though the boy wasn’t physically affected, he was emotionally and mentally affected. So thank you for joining me on this Saturday afternoon. And let’s get right into it. Darnell was a 32 year old man who was living in the home with his wife and his 13 year old stepson, whose name has been withheld due to his age. Earlier that night, an argument had broken out between Darnell and his wife. While the exact cause of the argument isn’t clear, what is clear is that Darnell started threatening to kill everyone in the house. The violence turned physical when Darnell grabbed his wife by the neck and started choking her right in front of her 13 year old son. The woman managed to escape for a short time, gave her son the phone, told him to get help and moved away from the situation to wait for the police. Like she wanted him to get away from what’s going on so he wouldn’t get hurt, so he wouldn see what was going on while she handled the situation, um, by herself. Instead, he told her that he, quote, wasn’t going anywhere because he was quote, worried about me. Despite the mother’s attempt to get her son to safety, the situation followed them outside. Darnell followed the boy into the front yard and tried to violently engage him. At some point during that confrontation, Darnell threw a bike at the teen, at which point the the 13 year old dodged the attack and punched Darnell in the face multiple times. Darnell was knocked unconscious as his bitch ass should have been. And when Baldwin county deputies arrived on the scene, they found the 13 year old boy holding his stepfather down in the yard, using that same bicycle, Darnell was, quote, knocked out cold, suffering from two black eyes, a, uh, badly swollen lip, and a gash across his forehead. His mugshot shows just how severe those injuries were. And I will be putting that mugshot in the Patreon. You’ll be able to see it if you sign up for a free. For a free Patreon subscription, I’ll have it there for everyone to see. Patreon.com loveandmurder or you could go to my website, murderandlove.com, that’s loveandmurder backwards, murderandlove.com where this episode will be. And you’ll see his mugshot right there, front and center. Deputies interviewed the mother, who told them, quote, I was scared because I thought he was going to get hurt, but he had this situation under control. Dude, I would be cooking my son’s steaks for the rest of his life. For the rest of his life. Every Saturday is steak night, like, for the rest of your life until I die. I’m so proud of you. And then I’ll be like, you know what? I need to make better relationship decisions. And I think I would, uh, I don’t know, get some therapy so I can make sure that I’m choosing the right men after this. Deputies noted Darnell’s condition to be highly intoxicated and potentially under the influence of narcotics. And look, I’m not going to say that the only reason the 13 year old was able to knock him unconscious was because he was high and on, uh, high end drunk. But I think maybe even if he was sober, that 13 year old would have given him the business. You know what I’m saying? I really think so. And 13 year old, if you’re listening to this or somebody who knows him hears this, tell him, I’m proud of him. I’m very proud of you. So Darnell was taken into custody, and the following day, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at 1:40pm he was officially booked into the Baldwin County Corrections Center. He was charged with domestic violence, strangulation, a felony, and held on a $30,000 bond. But because he’s not a US citizen, an immigration hold has been placed on him. That means that even if the bond is posted, he may still be transferred into federal custody rather than being released as the case goes forward. The prosecution will be working based on the mother’s account of what happened and the physical evidence from the scene. As of the latest reports, it’s still unclear whether Darnell has retained an attorney Present him. The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office has not released additional information beyond those early details, and some follow up requests from media outlets have not been answered. With that said, everything, uh, here that I said here is alleged. In the days following the incident, media outlets picked up the story and focused on the 13 year old’s actions, describing him as a gusty kid and saying Darnell, quote, got a taste of his own medicine. But looking at what actually happened, I know I’m saying I’m proud of this little boy and everything, which I am, don’t get me wrong. Protect your mother. That’s right. But you have to remember that this was still a domestic violence incident that escalated quickly in front of a child and then that forced the child into a position where he had to make a decision in real time. So although, you know, we’re not that we’re making light of it, but, you know, we have to remember that this little boy had to make an adult decision and had to protect the adult who’s actually supposed to protect him, the two adults. Because even when you come into relationship as a stepfather or stepmother, you’re now coming into a position where you’re supposed to be a protector of those children. So both of these supposed to be protectors. The child then had to take that stance, you know, so we have to remember that when you get into a relationship, whether you’re male, female, whatever, when you get into a relationship and you have children, you need to take those children into account over your own feelings, over how you feel, over how much you love the other person, over all of that. The children didn’t ask to be here. They did not. So if you just love this other person so much, but they don’t want children in their lives, then you have to let them go. Maybe y’ all will get back together after your children go to college or something like that, but you have to consider the children that you decided to bring into this world over your own selfish needs and wants. That’s just life. That’s being an adult. Anyways, if you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic violence hotline at 1-800-799-7233. That’s 1-800-799, uh, 7233. Or go to thehotline.org all calls are toll free and confidential, and the hotline is available 24. 7 in more than 170 languages. You could also visit my site, murderinlove.com that’s love and murder backwards. Murderandlove.com for more resources. And that is all I have for you for this surprise Saturday episode. Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you. Thank you so much for your support. If you want to support me even more, support this podcast, support the victims, keep this podcast listener funding and keep the victim stories coming out as they need to be told. Then head on over to the Patreon and become part of the lamb fam. Starting at only $3 a month and above, you do get bonuses and extras in exchange for your monetary input. Patreon.com uh uh, loveandmurder thanks for joining me and I will see you in the next episode. Bye.

Since you listened to this case, maybe you’d be interested in:

“I Thought It Was a Dream” Teen Kills Twin Sister, Sleepwalking or Murder? | Benjamin Elliott
https://murderandlove.com/i-thought-it-was-a-dream-teen-kills-twin-sister-sleepwalking-or-murder-benjamin-elliott/

Celebrity Hairstylist Murdered as Wife’s Secret Life is Exposed | Monica Sementilli
https://murderandlove.com/celebrity-hairstylist-murdered-as-wifes-secret-life-is-exposed-monica-sementilli/

Sources: (what the sources say)

https://lawandcrime.com/crime/wasnt-going-anywhere-13-year-old-son-who-sees-stepfather-strangling-his-mother-steps-in-and-beats-him-bloody-police-say/

https://www.wkrg.com/baldwin-county/baldwin-county-deputies-teen-takes-down-stepfather-with-bicycle-to-protect-mom-during-alleged-fight/

https://www.foxnews.com/us/alabama-teen-comes-mothers-aid-knocks-out-stepfather-during-alleged-strangulation-attempt?msockid=2d16442390fb6044085756559194617c

https://people.com/boy-13-knocks-out-father-to-stop-him-from-allegedly-strangling-a-woman-11924268

https://nypost.com/2026/03/11/us-news/13-year-old-savagely-knocks-out-drunk-dad-to-stop-him-from-strangling-mom-cops/

https://cc.southernsoftware.com/bookingdetails/index.php?BookingID=247803