Woman beaten, stabbed to death, New Wilmington police shoot and kill her attacker

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. — Police in Lawrence County shot and killed a man who they witnessed assaulting and stabbing a woman. She later died of her injuries.

Officers were called to South New Castle Street in New Wilmington just after 11 a.m. Thursday for a domestic incident.

According to the police report, when officers arrived, they witnessed a man stabbing and beating Chyna Cardena, 24, behind a home. Officers ordered the man to drop the weapon, but he refused and continued to assault the victim.

An officer shot the man, killing him. That officer was put on administrative leave as part of the investigation. The man was identified as Juan Carter Hernandez, 33, of Campbell, Ohio.

Cardena, who is originally from Arkansas, was taken to a hospital in Youngstown where she died. According to Cardena’s family, she had just moved here a year ago to be a nursing assistant because she wanted to help elderly people.

As for Hernandez, her family said Cardena had recently started dating him. Police told Channel 11 that even though the victim was transgender, this was not a hate crime.

The officer-involved shooting happened across the street from where the president of Westminster College lives. The college was never on lockdown, but a school in the nearby Wilmington Area School District was for a brief time.

Pennsylvania State Police are investigating.

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