Zak Hernández Sergeant ( Posthumous Promotion from Corporal ) Zak Hernández Laporte ( b . 1970 – June 10 , 1992 ) , was a 22 - year - old member of the United States Army who was killed in action in Panama City when the Humvee in which he was riding was ambushed on the eve of U . S . President George H . W . Bush ' s visit to Panama . Pedro Miguel González Pinzón , son of Panamanian politician Gerardo González Vernaza , was accused of the murder but acquitted in 1997 in a trial in Panama . Two years later González Pinzón was elected to Panama ' s National Assembly and , in September 2007 , was chosen by his peers as National Assembly President , an event which generated protests from the governments of the United States and Puerto Rico . This event also jeopardized U . S . Congress ' ratification of a Free Trade Agreement between the U . S . and Panama , a pact that was previously ratified by Panama and was , until Pedro Miguel Gonzalez ' s elevation , considered likely to receive bipartisan Congressional approval . Killed in action . On June 10 , 1992 , Sgt . Hernández and Sgt . Ronald T . Marshall were ambushed while driving in their Humvee at an entrance to Albrook Air Base on the outskirts of Panama City . A group of gunmen fired at the pair with an AK - 47 from a civilian car before making their escape . Marshall was seriously injured , while Hernández died from his wounds . The murder occurred two - and - a - half years after the US invasion of Panama to depose military ruler Manuel Noriega , and just prior to a visit by US President George H . W . Bush . González Pinzón was immediately the prime suspect , and a warrant was issued for his arrest . According to a lawyer for the US Embassy , three witnesses stated he was present at the scene , while others saw him and two accomplices in the stolen car used in the shooting . The car was later found on a farm owned by his father . The US Federal Bureau of Investigation matched an AK - 47 from the attacks was found on the farm as well , while Scotland Yard and the Panamanian police did not find the AK - 47 to match the bullets from the shootings . Legal proceedings against González Pinzón . Though an arrest warrant was issued for González Pinzón shortly after the murder , he evaded arrest for more than two years , reportedly spending part of this time in Cuba . In 1995 , he surrendered directly to new President Ernesto Perez Balladares on live national television , accompanied by his father . González ' s father stated that the unusual circumstances were needed " to avoid an attempt on the kid ' s life " . He accused the previous Guillermo Endara administration of " judicial terrorism " and stated that under the Perez Balladares administration , his son could receive a fair trial . González Pinzón was held for the following two years in an air - conditioned jail cell with a computer and cell phone , during which his trial was repeatedly delayed . Jaime Abad Espinosa , the Panamanian police official who had led the investigation into the murder , was forced to resign , and was accused by González ' s father of suppressing ballistics evidence proving González Pinzón ' s innocence . Abad was later arrested and tried on the charge . Panamanian human rights groups protested on Abad ' s behalf , with the Panamanian Center for the Investigation of Human Rights and Judicial Assistance stating that the " unaccustomed dispatch " with which Abad ' s case was handled indicated that its " clear purpose is that its result influence the result of the other case " . Abad was found guilty of removing evidence and fined , but was pardoned on June 28 , 1998 by Perez Balladares . In late 1997 , González Pinzón was brought to trial and acquitted . The US State Department objected to the verdict , calling it " inconsistent with persuasive testimony by credible and disinterested witnesses as well as firearm and other physical evidence " . The " Washington Post " described the verdict as an " outrage " that showed that US soldiers must leave the country following the handover of the Panama Canal . González Pinzón was also indicted by a US grand jury for his alleged role in the killing shortly after it took place . He remained wanted by the US as of 2007 . González Pinzón National Assembly presidency . After being elected twice to the National Assembly of Panama as a PRD candidate , González was selected by his party on September 1 , 2007 to serve as the body ' s President . His assumption of the presidency was protested by the US , which described him as a fugitive . The move came during the negotiation of the Panama – United States Trade Promotion Agreement , and several members of the US Congress , as well as the Senate of Puerto Rico , led by its then president Kenneth McClintock , stated that they would oppose ratification of the pact until González was removed from office . Gonzalez called his election in the face of US opposition a demonstration of Panamanian independence , stating , " The era in which the U . S . had the last word in determining who governed our nation and how they did so is over . " González ' s appointment caused controversy within Panama , particularly due to its threatening of the free trade pact . In one poll , most Panamanians stated that González should step down . However , González ' s backers stated that the US opposition to his leadership was another chapter in a long history of US interference in Panamanian affairs , and rejected it as inappropriate . Former Panamanian President Guillermo Endara stated that he believed González to be guilty of the murder , though he opposed the trade agreement . President Martín Torrijos , a fellow PRD member who had negotiated the trade pact , made a private request for González to resign , but avoided publicly criticizing him . In January 2008 , after ceremonies in Panama marking Martyr ' s Day ( remembering students killed in a 1964 clash with U . S . soldiers over the Panama Canal ) , the web site of the Panamanian legislature was hacked to display an image of the US flag ; the website was then down for three weeks . " The Guardian " described the hackers as apparently angry about González ' s election . On March 7 , 2008 , it was announced that González would not seek reelection as head of the National Assembly when his term ended on August 31 . After a long delay , US President Barack Obama resubmitted the trade pact to the US Congress , which approved it on October 13 , 2011 . International protest . His election was protested by the Government of the United States . Tom Casey , a spokesman for the United States State Department , said that the United States government was " deeply disappointed that the Panamian National Assembly elected Pedro Miguel González Pinzón from among its members " and that " The United States wants those responsible ( for Zak Hernández ' murder ) . . . to face justice " . On September 4 , 2007 , the Senate of Puerto Rico approved a resolution expressing its " profound preoccupation " that a person indicted for Sgt . Zak Hernández ' murder has been elected president of the Panamanian National Assembly . During a previously scheduled courtesy visit to his office , then Senate President Kenneth McClintock on September 6 presented a copy of the resolution to Panama Supreme Court Chief Magistrate Graciela Dixon . Key members of the U . S . Congress , such as Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus ( D - MT ) and the committee ' s ranking Republican member , Charles Grassley ( R - IA ) have signaled that Gonzalez ' s elevation to National Assembly President represents an obstacle to Congress ' ratification of the U . S . - Panama Free Trade Agreement . ( In assuming the presidency on September 1 , 2007 , Gonzalez said he would step down should he become an obstacle to FTA ratification by the U . S . Despite clear signals from the U . S . Congress and Bush Administration officials that he indeed poses such an obstacle , Gonzalez refused to step down but was not reelected in 2008 . ) Zak Hernández ' name appears on " El Monumento de la Recordación " ( The Wall of Remembrance ) at the Puerto Rico Capitol complex as the only Puerto Rican casualty in the 1992 United States military operation in Panama . The U . S . consulate in Panama also displays a plaque in memory of Zak Hernández .