Derrick Rose Gang-Rape Case: Detective Investigating Allegations Dead; Judge Won't Declare Mistrial

A detective investigating gang rape accusations against former Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose died after she was shot in the chest Tuesday in a relative's home in Whittier, California, according to a police press release.

Nadine Hernandez, 44, had been one of two detectives working on the Chicago native's case to see if criminal charges should be pursued, the report stated. Rose, 28, and two friends are currently on trial in connection with a civil lawsuit that alleges they drugged a woman during a party in 2013 and then raped her at her apartment while she was unconscious. The suit was filed last year by a 30-year-old college student who had been in an almost two-year relationship with Rose, who was traded to the New York Knicks in the offseason.

Initially, a police press release said Hernandez's death was being investigated as a suicide and that she died from a gunshot wound to the chest. But Whittier Police Lt. Jay Tatman later said it was unclear whether the shooting was a suicide or a homicide, and it is being classified as an "undetermined death."

Officers responded to a call at about 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, of an attempted suicide at the home where Hernandez was found, police said. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

LATEST: Is Derrick Rose's Gang-Rape Case Close to Being Declared a Mistrial?

Rose's accuser and her lawyers were surprised to hear about Hernandez's death Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Times. In the lead-up to the trial, Hernandez provided the woman's attorneys with a letter arguing why the woman should be able to use a pseudonym during the legal proceedings, a request that was denied, the report added.

Also during the trial Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald refused to grant the defense team's request to declare a mistrial in the case. Rose's lawyers claimed in court Tuesday that the plaintiff's attorneys did not promptly give the defense three text messages that were sent from the accuser to their client and vital to the case.

While critical of the "careless" handling of court exhibits, Fitzgerald did not believe the plaintiff's lawyers intentionally delayed handing over the messages to the defense and that such a delay should not result in a mistrial.

UPDATED (2:46 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13)

City News Service contributed to this report.

Photo via Patch archive

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