Gravely injured father remains on life support after apparent beating in Koreatown

A father of two remained in a coma Friday afternoon after being gravely injured in a mysterious incident that family members believe was an attack in Koreatown.

Bryan Hernandez, 27, has been declared brain-dead "and they've given us two more days," his sister, Yesenia Hernandez, said in an interview at California Hospital Medical Center in downtown Los Angeles.

She said her brother's friends dropped him off at his family's home, unconscious, on Aug. 30. He had apparently been severely beaten.

"He had bruises, one in his cheek. His eye was a little bit swollen and it was swollen right over here," Yesenia Hernandez said, pointing at her forehead.

Whatever happened to Bryan Hernandez, it occurred about 7 p.m. at the corner of 8th Street and Normandie Avenue. Hernandez was in the neighborhood at the time, visiting his two young children.

The case has been turned over to Los Angeles Police Department homicide investigators, who have been canvassing the Koreatown neighborhood and checking surveillance cameras.

The Hernandez family is asking any possible witnesses to come forward.

"That street is always busy, so somebody has to see something," Yesenia Hernandez said. "All we want to know is, find out what happened and find justice."

Doctors have advised Bryan Hernandez's family to take him off life support as early as Friday evening.

"They want to disconnect him," his sister said. "That's where we are now. We're waiting, hoping in God that he has the last word."

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call a tip line that the LAPD has established for the case: (213) 382-9470.