OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – The wife of one of the fake DTE Energy workers linked to the murder of a Rochester Hills businessman, who was also charged after dozens of her text messages were read in court, will be spending up to 20 years in prison.
Amanda Ileana Hernandez, 34, from Lincoln Park, pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit first-degree home invasion, accessory after the fact and conspiracy to commit false impersonation of a utility worker.
She is the wife of Carlos Hernandez, who was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering Hussein Murray, 72.
Joshua Zuazo was also sentenced to life in connection with the murder.
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According to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, Amanda Hernandez allegedly played an active role in the planning and cover-up of the crime.
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On Aug. 12, as part of a sentencing agreement, a judge sentenced Amanda Hernandez to seven to 20 years in prison.
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‘You get the punishment you deserve’
Hussein Murray’s wife and sons gave victim impact statements during Amanda Hernandez’s sentencing hearing, with Linda Murray speaking first.
“Amanda, maybe instead of looking for the easy way to get a house with a big yard, and if you and your husband had worked as hard as my husband did, you might have had one without planning to rob us and getting my husband killed,” said Linda Murray. “You get the punishment you deserve of robbing me the love of my life and the father of my children.”
‘Disgusting excuses for human beings’
Muhib Murray, Hussein and Linda Murray’s middle son, talked about how the family had tried to meet every Sunday, but it had become difficult in recent years. The Sunday before Murray was murdered was the last time they all met as a family.
“He was so full of happiness to have everyone there,” he said in his victim impact statement. “We were all commenting to each other about how we hadn’t seen them that happy in a long time. Little did I know, and little did we know, that would be the last time I’d see my father. Little did any of us know that at the same time, my father was overjoyed by our togetherness, Ms. Hernandez and her co-conspirators were plotting their scheme. Their scheme to invade my parents’ home and take what they spent a lifetime to build. Their scheme to attack them and take what wasn’t theirs, knowing it could end up in murder.”
“When I heard the text messages that were exchanged between the conspirators and the days leading up to their crime being read out in court in the other trial, I literally felt sick,” Muhib continued. “Ms. Hernandez said she hoped that she could get enough to get a house, and she was only worried about what might happen to her husband and the other co-conspirator, but not the people whose house they were invading. How much arrogance and callousness does it take to think like that? My parents worked hard and sacrificed for decades to build a life. They just wanted to steal it for themselves rather than work for it, regardless of who might get hurt or killed.”
“They’re all disgusting excuses for human beings,” Muhib said. ”Ms. Hernandez will get out someday. But my mother will never have her husband or peace of mind back. I and my brothers will never ever have my father back. Our children will never every grandfather back. And everyone who knew and loved my father is going to have a hole in their hearts forever.”
Rahif Murray, another son of Hussein and Linda Murray, also gave a victim impact statement on Aug. 12.
“No matter what length Ms. Hernandez’s sentence is, that sentence will end, and our pain and suffering will never end. Our loss is immense,” Rahif said. “My father was not somebody who was a one- or two-times-a-year grandfather. He was an everyday grandfather. Basically, we lived two streets over. We saw him every day. And nobody tells you when you lose something like this.”
‘I regret every choice’
“I just want to say that I do have many of the sympathies with the family,” said Amanda Hernandez. “I regret every choice I’ve made since 2022 of marrying my husband and knowing who he was.”
“So, you take some responsibility?” Judge Nanci Grant asked before reading the dozens of text messages Amanda Hernandez exchanged with her husband leading up to the home invasion and murder.
“You may have married the wrong person, but you were wholly involved in this,” Grant said. “You had zero problem making those searches, picking him up, making clear what was going on, and maybe panicked when you realized it went a way you didn’t think it was going. I don’t know how you’re going to live with yourself; you’ll get out eventually. But you are not an innocent victim. You were all in on this.”