LANCASTER — A man who was awaiting trial for allegedly murdering his girlfriend’s 3-year-old son at her Lancaster home has died by suicide while behind bars, according to records from the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner.
Rena Naulls, 40, died Feb. 2 as a result of sharp force injuries to his neck, according to the records.
Naulls — whose criminal case was dismissed Thursday — was charged in March 2024 with one count each of murder, assault on a child causing death and possession of a firearm by a felon, along with an allegation that he used a personally used a knife during the commission of the Feb. 20, 2024 crime.
David Jacques Hernandez of Lancaster died at a hospital, the medical examiner’s office reported.
The boy died from an incised wound of the neck, according to records from the medical examiner’s office.
Deputies who responded to the home found Naulls suffering from a “medical emergency,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Naulls tried “to take his own life” at the home, where the boy lived with his three older siblings, who were not harmed, sheriff’s officials said.
Naulls — who was initially identified as a “person of interest” —was taken to a hospital last year, officials said. He was subsequently transferred to jail.