Local family remembers 29-year-old Marc Hernandez Jr., who was killed in DHS crash last week

A local family is remembering Marc Hernandez Jr., 29, of Desert Hot Springs who was killed in a crash last Friday.

They say was a father, son and friend to many.

“Even if you didn’t know him, you knew him.”

Vera Gillespie recalls the heart wrenching moment when she received the worst phone call a mother could get.

“The only thing I can tell I remember are these blood curling screams and dropping to my knees and dropping to my knees," she said, "I was devastated, heart broken, concerned about his children.”

Hernandez was a single father of four. His family saying he loved his kids more than anything in the world.

“If his kids wanted something, he’d do it. He would do it. He would find a way. He showed and guided them through love,” Gillespie said.

They said Hernandez was kind, hard working and compassionate.

“He was the kind of man that would help a complete stranger without asking for anything in return.”

And most importantly, he loved everyone in his life. “The love, the love. The boy loved when he loved and it was… you couldn’t get away from it," said close family friend Gina Perez, "I don’t care if we don't get along, I love you though, I love you.”

His family said he’ll always be remembered as a selfless young man, who was a light in everyone’s lives.

“The fact that he could go into a room and just light up the whole room with his jokes, his laughter, his smile was beautiful, amazing," said Hernandez's mother, "Our little commentary between the two of us as mom and son… I’ll miss those things.”

The family now worried for his four children, surviving in a world without their father.

“That our community reaches out and helps take care of these kids. Whether it’s in the school system, whether it’s for mental health for grieving, whether it’s just family and friends loving these children and sharing their memories with them so they never forget what a special person their father was," Gillespie said."

His family has set-up a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses and to help take care of the kids he leaves behind.

March 18, 2022

Hernandez Jr. was driving southbound in the northbound lane of Indian Avenue in a Ford Focus when they collided head on with a 26-year-old, Cathedral City resident also traveling northbound on Indian Avenue in a Dodge Ram pickup.

The driver of the Ram pickup tried to avoid colliding with the other driver, but was unable.

Hernandez Jr. was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other driver was taken to a local hospital with moderate injuries.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.