May 5, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
A man charged in a local kidnapping case almost three years ago was sentenced Monday, May 1 in Putnam County Criminal Court where he was making an appearance for a separate offense there.
22-year-old Anthony Emmanuel Hernandez, originally charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and theft over $2,500, entered a plea to a charge of aggravated kidnapping and received a 12-year prison sentence to serve at 100%. He was given jail credit from October 29, 2020 to May 1, 2023.
According to Lieutenant Detective James Cornelius of the Smithville Police Department, Hernandez and another man, 42-year-old Larry Payne, Jr. allegedly participated in the robbery, beating, and kidnapping of Terrance Martin on July 9, 2020 in Smithville. Payne was charged with the same offenses as Hernandez along with the charge of aggravated assault and violation of probation. The cases against Payne apparently remain pending.
Lt. Detective Cornelius explained Friday how the case unfolded.
“We (SPD) were called to a residence at 402 South Mountain Street on the night of July 9, 2020, by Christina Mayo who said she was asked by her boyfriend, Payne to go clean up the house but when we (police) arrived no one was there. We later learned that the renters of the home were in jail at the time but that their friends, including Payne and Mayo had access and used the residence as a hangout place.”
“The next day, July 10 I started an investigation and obtained a search warrant to enter the house. Inside the living room, we found a puddle of blood in the floor, blood on a couch, and observed blood on a door post outside. I then called TBI for assistance”.
“Before I finished at the house, Terrance Martin showed up at police department to report his vehicle had been stolen from that location (402 South Mountain Street). Although we later learned from him that he had been the victim of the attack, Martin initially didn’t want to talk about anything but the theft of his car, a white 2015 Buick Lacrosse. I later spoke with him in my vehicle and as we drove around, he gave me more details saying that he had met Hernandez and Payne the night of July 9 at Colonial Properties (formerly Short Mountain Villages) and that they attacked him as he approached them in the driveway. Martin said his assailants then forced him into the trunk of his car and drove to 402 South Mountain Street, where they got Martin out of the trunk and brought him into the living room of the residence. They then took his money and phone, pistol whipped him in the head, put a bag over his head and tied him up by the wrists before again putting him in the trunk of the car and driving outbound on West Broad Street. Around midnight and somewhere near the Wilson Bank and Trust location, Martin was able to free himself from his restraints, popped open the trunk, and escaped from the moving car. He walked to the hospital where he called for his girlfriend to come pick him up. Martin later returned to the hospital for treatment and then went to the police department,” said Lt. Detective Cornelius.
Martin’s car was later found abandoned on Holmes Creek Road.
“During the investigation, Mayo said she had been at the residence at 402 South Mountain Street earlier that night (July 9 and prior to the attack on Martin) but that she had been contacted by Payne and told to leave. Sometime after she left, Mayo said Payne called for her to return to the home to clean it up.”
“We (police) later contacted Hernandez and he gave a statement after which he was released. When we got more information, we took warrants on both Hernandez and Payne”.
“While trying to serve the warrants, we learned that Hernandez had left the state. We put out the information and found that he was at the home of his grandfather in Seguin, Texas. I reached out to the police department there and they picked him up. Sergeant Will Judkins and I later went there to bring Hernandez back here,” said Lt. Detective Cornelius.
Payne was subsequently served with the warrants against him and at the time was housed in Putnam County where he was wanted for probation violation. He is now in prison in the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex for felony offenses committed in Putnam and Shelby Counties.