Mother Says Police Took Five Days To Tell Her Cops Killed Her 13-Year-Old Son

San Antonio, Texas -- A mother in Texas said it took the San Antonio police five days to inform her that a police officer fatally shot her 13-year-old son.

Lynda Espinoza said she came across news articles about a teenager being shot in her neighborhood by the police around the time her son died. She said that’s when she found out the victim of the police shooting was her son, Andre Hernandez Jr.

“I really don’t understand what the police are hiding,” she told NBC News. “My son was 13 years old. That’s the key. He was a little boy, and he did not deserve to get shot and killed by a police officer.”

Hernandez was allegedly driving a stolen car when he slammed the vehicle into a police car Friday at around 1:20 a.m. Two other teenagers were also in the car at the time.

A police officer shot into the fleeing car to avoid the driver from striking again, San Antonio Police Capt. Jesse Salame said.

Salame added that the youngsters stepped out of the car and surrendered after Hernandez was shot.

The boy died later at the hospital. No other passengers or officers were injured in the incident.

The officer involved in the shooting was placed on administrative duty.

San Antonio police did not reveal the victim’s identity to the public “because of his age.”

Espinoza said the police finally called her Tuesday about her son’s death. They also told the mother that she would be allowed to view the partial bodycam footage of the incident.

The mother said only two weeks had passed since they laid to rest her 16-year-old daughter, Naveah Martinez. Martinez was found dead in a stolen car near the family’s home with a gunshot wound on May 10.

Hernandez was taking his sister’s death hard, the mother said.

“I’m not pretending my son was an angel, you know — he was dealing with the loss of his sister already. After my daughter passed, he wasn’t coming home and started getting mixed up,” Espinoza told the outlet. “He still deserves justice.”

Jesse Hernandez, who lives in the neighborhood where the 13-year-old was shot, said he witnessed the police pulling the boy from the vehicle and ripping his clothes off after the shooting.

“Instead of trying to apply pressure, he’s pulling him out and he’s still trying to search him,” Jesse told San Antonio Express-News, according to San Antonio Current. “He’s shot, you know. He’s not going to be able to grab anything.”

“The little boy was like: ‘Not so rough, officer, please. I’m in pain,” the witness said, according to NBC News. “‘Don’t be so rough. It hurts, officer.’”

Espinoza also claimed her son was handcuffed after the police officer shot him.

“I want justice for him, there was no reason for him to shoot a 13-year-old,” the mother told KENS 5.

“Make sure to tell [your kids] every day that you love them, you don’t know it’ll be the last day you see your kids,” she added.