Gunman accused of killing 2 women at Dallas Methodist hospital booked on murder charges
The man accused of killing two women at Methodist Dallas Medical Center on Saturday has been released from a hospital and booked in to the Dallas County Jail, according to jail records Wednesday.
At his arraignment, his bond was set at $2 million, according to court records.
The gunman has been identified by police as Nestor Hernandez, 30, a parolee who had received permission to be at the Dallas hospital while his girlfriend gave birth to their baby.
Hernandez was convicted in a Dallas County aggravated robbery and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was released on Oct. 20, 2021, after serving six years of the term. After violating his probation twice, Hernandez was turned over to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which released him in September with an ankle monitor and approved his hospital visit, authorities said.
The two women, 43-year-old social worker Jacqueline Pokuaa and nurse Katie Flowers, 63, were shot and killed by Hernandez, according to police.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit reviewed by WFAA-TV, Hernandez was visiting his girlfriend and baby in a room in the labor and delivery department when his behavior became strange.
He made “ominous phone calls and texts to his family,” accused his girlfriend of cheating on him and searched the room for another person, according to the affidavit. Hernandez hit his girlfriend in the head with a handgun that he pulled from his pants, the affidavit said.
His girlfriend told police that Hernandez said, “We are both going to die today,” and, “Whoever comes in this room is going to die with us,” the affidavit states.
Hernandez shot Pokuaa when she came into the room and shot Flowers when she heard the gunfire and looked into the room, according to the affidavit. A hospital police officer shot Hernandez in the leg before taking him into custody.
Hernandez’s girlfriend was treated for her injuries, and the newborn was not hurt in the incident, police said.
In a statement to KDFW-TV, a Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson said, “There was not an indication that Hernandez would act out violently in a hospital and allowing him the ability to visit loved ones in that setting would not be out of the normal course of supervision.”
Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot said in a statement Monday that “parole decisions and conditions are not made by the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office or any judicial officer of Dallas County but by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.”
Hernandez was transferred to another hospital for treatment after the shooting. He was released from that hospital Wednesday and booked into the Dallas County Jail, records show. He faces charges of capital murder.
This story was originally published October 26, 2022 at 5:06 PM.