The mother of a New Jersey high school soccer star murdered last year reportedly says she's "disappointed and sad" that her son's alleged killer will receive a plea deal and serve just 15 years in prison.
Hawa Fofana said she was informed by the Essex County Prosecutor's office Tuesday morning that Yohan Hernandez struck a deal and would plead guilty.
"I was very disappointed and I was very sad," she said, at one point near tears. "I need him to be life in prison because my life, and my family life, will never be the same."
A spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office was not immediately available to comment on the report or confirm to News 4 the purported deal.
Moussa Fofana, 18, a junior at Maplewood's Columbia High School, was shot and killed by a stranger on June 6 while walking through the school's Underhill Sports Complex. The death of the popular soccer-loving student at the school led to a massive community outpouring of support, with the town's former mayor personally kicking in a substantial reward for information on the case.
Hernandez, then 20, of Newark, was arrested in August 2021.
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"I’m the mother, somebody shot my son and my son was not a criminal," said Fofana. "He was a good child and for somebody to take his life just like that and for you guys to come here and sit here and tell me you guys are going to give him 15 years in prison, that was like a slap in the face to me and my family."
The attorney for Hernandez has argued argued there was some sort of altercation that lead to the shooting, and his client was acting in self-defense — even though the circumstances of what happened the night of the shooting are still murky. Former Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said that any sort of self-defense claim, as well as witnesses or evidence, can lead prosecutors to make plea deals.
"Sometimes you might not have a very good case of first-degree murder and sometimes the proofs might lean toward one of the lesser included offenses," Molinelli said. "I couldn't sit here and tell you all the things that might go wrong in a criminal prosecution. It could be a witness issue, it could be an evidence issue, it could be a certain defense being asserted by the defendant."
But that provides little solace for the grieving mother for the star athlete, who was so loved by his classmates that turnout for a memorial service after his death numbered in the thousands. Fofana said she wants justice.
"This was a child that had so many dreams, and his life was taken away in an instant, so he deserves more," she said. "He didn’t deserve to be shot just like that...Our life is never going to be the same, never."
A hearing was initially set for Thursday, but it was postponed a week. Prosecutors will meet again with Fofana next week to again go over the case with her and her lawyer, after the mother requested to speak with them.
An attorney for Hernandez refused to comment on the plea deal.
