She hugged the man who killed her brother, judge who allowed it

El Paso, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) – Yolanda Tinajero is the oldest sister of Arturo Benavides, one of the 23 people who were killed in the Walmart mass shooting in El Paso on August 3.

She is also the woman who hugged her brother's life in an act of amazing grace.

Sam Medrano, the presiding judge in the state case against the shooter, spoke about how this simple act of compassion, a hug, a way to healing for a city that was still painful.

“I was able to leave the air off the courtroom,” Judge Sam Medrano recalled.

Richter Medrano has observed countless cases within the 409th district court.

But what he saw and felt during the victim's statements in this process was different from everything before.

“Ms. Tinajero reminded me of my mother,” he said. “Because my mother wanted to say and do what she did.”

Tinajero had addressed the shooter directly and said:

“I find it in my heart to hug you so that you can feel my pain, but also my forgiveness. But I know that it is not allowed.”

Medrano met her words.

“That bothered me that she thought so,” he said. “And I said to her: 'Well, there is a person who can allow it and I am.'”

And what no one had expected.

Judge Medrano allowed it.

Tinajero crossed the bottom of the courtroom. And she hugged the man who killed her brother.

“I was concerned about security,” admitted Medrano. “But I only knew that it would be okay. I can't tell you why I only had some peace in me.”

He added that court employees and lawyers knew how quickly the moment would develop.

“He only had about ten seconds to react,” said Medrano. “Not enough time to stop it.”

“I turned my back,” he continued. “And I started crying. I've never cried on the bench.”

After the plea deal was completed, Richter Medrano solved a vows for himself:

“I would turn my back around and concentrate on the witness chair. I would never look at it again.”

He didn't see the hug. But he felt it.

“I felt it when she happened to me,” he said. “And I thought:” What a hero. What a hero. “It helps this community to get where we deserve it.”

Throughout the procedure, Medrano held a protocol of every person who said: “I'll give you.”

He allowed two to show the sympathy of the shooter in court.

“Because if you have an example like these two women, heroes who have given the unforgivable,” he said, “it is a powerful example for all of us to move people and honor the people we have lost.”

Afterwards, Medrano announced that the defense team received several calls from others who said that they also wanted to hug the shooter.

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