Case of man charged with murdering girlfriend at apartment to move forward

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - A judge has found enough evidence to allow the case of a local man charged with murdering his girlfriend at an apartment complex to move forward.

It took two days for the preliminary hearing of Anthony Hernandez to come to an end, with six witnesses taking the stand.

Hernandez is charged with murdering his girlfriend, Emily Padilla, and is facing a total of four felony counts, including murder and possession of an assault weapon.

The district attorney's office says Hernandez's arraignment is set for July 13.

“Hopefully we will set trial dates that day but there is a possibility that anything comes up like maybe discovery. Issue that we might have we might have to push it out but hopefully we get a trial date that day," says Jessica Moreno of the Imperial County District Attorney's Office.

We have reached out to the defendant's attorney for an interview but we are still waiting to hear back.

Hernandez is currently out on bail and the judge says he's been compliant with all the conditions of release presented to him.