Greece, N.Y. (WHAM) — Alexis Hernandez is still reeling from the night in January when her 4-year-old son Axel was shot and killed at the hands of his father in a murder-suicide at a townhouse in Greece.
“I’m never gonna let it go. Never gonna let Axel go,” Hernandez said.
The heartbreak is something she wants to ensure never happens to a parent again.
“We went to the house after getting concerning texts from Axel’s father,” Hernandez said. “The house was just locked up, and we had to get management to unlock the door, and we had to go in there.”
She said signs were present, and she had called police in the months prior.
“There was no police report, no documentation,” she said. “Nothing that I could go refer back to or things that I could make a paper trail out of.”
Hernandez is working with Assemblyman Josh Jensen to develop Axel’s Law.
“There can be from such a horrible thing, something positive could come from it, if we’re able to change state law,” said Jensen.
The petition for Axel’s Law claims the current system usually requires explicit threats of violence or violent acts before law enforcement can act.
The law, if it comes to be, will allow authorities to take action when credible warning or danger signs emerge.
“You can’t stop everything,” said Jensen. “But if authorities are able to act more proactively when there are concerns, when there are allegations, that may be the thing that stops something from being a domestic incident.”
The online petition is calling for:
- Mandatory documentation of reported alarming behavior involving a parent or guardian with a child in their custody
- Rapid risk assessment by appropriate authorities
- Temporary precautionary removal of a child when credible danger indicators exist
- Immediate mental health evaluation before unsupervised custody can resume
- Consideration of temporary firearm risk mitigation in high-risk situations
- Expedited court review for emergency child-safety cases
Jensen said he’s already had conversations with the chairman of the Children Families Committee in Albany. He’s working now to understand what laws are already on the books across the state. He is also trying to rally support from fellow lawmakers.
In the meantime, Hernandez is ensuring Axel’s spirit stays very much alive through random acts of kindness cards she’s passing around town with her son’s portrait.
“It’s a little sprinkle of Axel everywhere,” she said.
A “random act of kindness card” with a QR code for Axel’s Law, created in honor of Axel Hernandez, the 4-year-old boy who was killed in a murder-suicide at Fetzner Square Apartments & Townhomes in Greece Jan. 26, 2026. (Provided photo)
Hernandez said she has been putting the cards on new Hot Wheels toys and giving them out to random kids in public, or putting the cards in the park or at the library. She added that monster trucks and toy cars were some of Axel’s favorite things to play with.
“(It) really could be anything — giving the cashier a little $5 coffee gift card and putting Axel’s card on it, just little things,” Hernandez said.
Each card has a QR code to read more about Axel’s Law and sign a petition. It also shows how someone can pay it forward with their own acts of generosity. Hernandez said it’s becoming a trend she’s able to track — people have the option of submitting where they got their act of kindness from.
“Other people in the community have caught on, and they want to do it too,” she said.
Hernandez is also working with the Town of Greece to put a plaque of Axel at the town splash park — one of his favorite summer spots — and to dedicate a tree in his name.
“He was so good and he was so kind,” Hernandez said. “So it’s just continuing to spread him and spread his kindness.”