Ex-Marine who killed parents, livestreamed bodies gives chilling interview

SAN FRANCISCO — A former U.S. Marine who shot and killed his father and stepmother — while his 11-year-old sister watched — blamed his father for “killing his dreams” in a jailhouse interview.

Irvin Hernandez Flores, 23, of San Francisco, is charged with two counts of murder and a single count each of burglary and child endangerment, San Francisco police officials said. He is being held in the San Francisco County Jail.

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Police officers responding to shots fired at a Bayview area home the morning of Aug. 13 found Hernandez Flores’ father, Jose Hernandez, and his stepmother, Yesenia Soto, suffering from gunshot wounds.

“Officers rendered aid and summoned medics to the scene who transported the victims to the hospital for life-threatening injuries,” a police statement said.

Hernandez, 47, and Soto, 41, were pronounced dead at the hospital.

Authorities determined that Hernandez Flores broke into the home and gunned down both victims in front of his half-sister, who was not injured.

Then he livestreamed the aftermath of the shooting on Facebook Live, prosecutors allege.

“In this video, the defendant appears proud and happy with himself, all while you can clearly see his father laying in a pool of blood, and his stepmother slowly dying from her multiple gunshot wounds,” Randy Quezada, a spokesperson for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Hernandez Flores told KTVU in Oakland that he remembers little about what prompted the shootings. He said he was armed when he went to his father’s house but did not intend to harm anyone.

He told the news station that he had been drinking heavily when he arrived, apparently angry at his father. A relative had recently accused his father of sexual abuse, Hernandez Flores said.

Police would not confirm the possible motive, KTVU reported.

Hernandez Flores blamed the alcohol for what happened next.

The former Marine said that he went into his father and stepmother’s bedroom, at which point his father awoke and charged at him in the dark. He said that’s when he fired his gun.

“Once I emptied the clip, I turned on the lights and then I seen him on the floor,” Hernandez Flores told the station. “And he said, ‘You did good, son.’

“After that, I seen him suffering and then I just stopped his suffering.”

When a reporter asked if that meant he shot his father again, he responded, “Yes, ma’am.”

Hernandez Flores said his stepmother was simply caught “in the crossfire.”

“I didn’t have any intentions to deal with her,” he said.

His young sister witnessed the shootings, during which Hernandez Flores said he fired about 20 shots. The stunned girl tried calling for help, but Hernandez Flores had to help her.

“She wasn’t crying. She was shocked. She needed my help to get in contact with emergency,” he said.

Watch Irvin Hernandez Flores’ interview with KTVU below.

Hernandez Flores told KTVU that he was honorably discharged from the Marines after more than four years of service. He said that at the time of the slayings, he was applying to become a member of the San Francisco Police Department.

His dream was to become a sniper on the SWAT team, he said.

“All my life, I wanted to do good for my family, but my father … he killed my dreams,” Hernandez Flores said.

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Hernandez Flores repeatedly blamed his drinking for the killings.

“I didn’t voluntarily do any of this,” Hernandez Flores said. “God knows that I didn’t do this voluntarily.”

He said he regrets drinking the night before the killings.

“I feel bad for the people that love him, but like I said, I didn’t voluntarily do this,” he told the news station.

Hernandez Flores said he didn’t remember much about the Facebook Live video he recorded, but he surmised that it was potentially a goodbye to his family.

“Just, like, knowing maybe that was gonna be the last time, maybe, they would see me,” he said.

Soto’s niece, Sheila Soto, told KTVU that the family is devastated over the loss of her aunt, who managed a pizza restaurant, and of Hernandez, who worked as a security guard.

“He not only hurt my aunt, he hurt the whole family,” she said. “I love her. I want justice for her. I want the justice system to take care of it.”

The couple’s daughter is staying with family members, Soto said.

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