Before they tore down the abandoned house at 1217 W. Madison St., it brought together two people living on the edge of society.
One was a homeless man. He had spruced up the place and invited a pretty, but emotionally troubled 26-year-woman to stay there.
She was Francheska Hernandez. Raised in Puerto Rico, she came to Milwaukee to live with her grandfather. Last August, she died of an overdose of heroin, cocaine and the powerful opioid, fentanyl. She was one of 343 people to die of a drug overdose in Milwaukee County last year.
Hernandez was a known prostitute and drug user, according to the medical examiner’s report. She worked on the corner of 21st and Greenfield Avenue and abused prescription medications, heroin, cocaine, and crack.
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A few weeks before her death, she was on the balcony of a home pulling her hair and making bird noises when police arrived, according to a police report. The occupants of the house said they didn’t know Hernandez.
To her mother, Brenda Vazquez, Hernandez “was my princess.” Vazquez only speaks Spanish and her words were translated.
“She was a good person,” Vazquez said. “She expressed her feelings beautifully. The only thing is that since she was a kid she had a problem with using pills. That’s how it all began.”
When family problems developed in Puerto Rico, including her mother’s admitted use of drugs, Hernandez and a sister came to Milwaukee to live with their grandparents.
At the age of six, Hernandez was diagnosed with ADD, which made it hard for her to learn in school. A psychiatrist prescribed Ritalin. After that, she was dependent on pills. Ritalin turned into marijuana, marijuana turned into cocaine.
She also lost custody of her own children.
“She always did what she wanted,” Vazquez said. “She never did what I told her to do. Even when I was a good role model and maintained sobriety. We all suffered because of her sickness because addiction is a disease.”
Hernandez’s children were first in foster care with a Brazilian family until her grandfather gained custody. She was granted supervised visits with her children, so she could not live with her grandfather. That is when Hernandez took to the streets.
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Hernandez’s aunt Izelisse lived in Milwaukee at the time. Izelisse’s last interaction with Hernandez was a week prior to her death. Hernandez appeared high at Izelisse’s home with an unknown man. When Hernandez began yelling, Izelisse asked her to leave, according to the medical examiner’s report.
Hernandez’s younger sister, Yaritza, is happy her sister’s story is being told.
“Thank you for choosing the case of my sister,” said Yaritza. “I hope that with all this will create awareness in the young.”
Little was known about the homeless man who fixed up the boarded up house.
He was not identified by name in the medical examiner’s report. He told police he had “popped” the rear door and cleaned up the house with the idea of living there. He also told Hernandez about the house.
The two were the only ones to use it.
The first floor was mostly empty except for a couch.
On Aug. 5 last year, the homeless man found her body on the second floor of house. An uncapped needle was next to her. Scattered clothes and several empty baggies were found in the room with other items, including syringes.
The man cried and he slapped her in the face in an attempt to wake her before contacting the neighbors to call 911.