Carthage man charged after allegedly pointing loaded gun at mother of his children

A Carthage man with a long history of violence was charged Friday in Jasper County Circuit Court with domestic assault, endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful use of a weapon after allegedly holding a gun to the mother of his children at her Joplin home.

An arrest warrant was issued for Michael Andre Hernandez (DOB 1995) with bond set at $35,000 cash or surety.

From the probable cause statement:

I contacted V1, On 09/20/2025, at approximately 1040 PM V1 was in the bathroom giving V2 a bath.

When V1 was finishing up, she was cut off by her "baby daddy" Michael Andre Hernandez. Michael is the biological father to V2 and V3. V1 observed Michael balling up his fist and attempting to punch V1. 

Michael then pulled back and drew what V1 described to be a "black 9mm handgun" from his waistband and point it at V1's chest area. V1 knew the gun was loaded due to comments made by Michael stating, "what's the point of having a gun if it's never loaded."

V1 was terrified and frozen in place afraid if she were to make a wrong move that Michael would shoot her. V1 was holding V2 in her arms while V3 and V4 were in the room watching the altercation progress. 

After pointing the firearm at V1, Michael then brought the firearm to his head and continued to argue with V1.

The probable cause statement detailed Hernandez' past crimes.

I believe that the defendant poses a danger to (_) a crime victim / (X) the community or to any other person because: Michael has multiple weapon charges from Miami-Dade Florida in 2014 and in 2015 with an additional charge of Battery. 

In 2016 and 2017 Michael then again charged with Domestic Battery and Battery in Florida. In 2018 Michael was charged with Kidnapping. Michael has an alert for violence in NCIC. Michael is known to carry firearms by the victim.

The case was investigated by the Joplin Police Department.