Police: Boyfriend in Texas hospital for the birth of a baby kills 2 people

DALLAS-

A man fatally shot two Dallas hospital workers over the weekend, opening fire after they accused his girlfriend who had just given birth of infidelity, authorities said.

Jacqueline Pokuaa, 45, and Katie Flowers, 63, were killed in Saturday’s shooting at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, according to police and the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Authorities said Nestor Hernandez, 30, opened fire around 11 a.m. Saturday while in hospital for the birth of a child by his girlfriend. Hernandez, who was on parole from prison and was allowed to be in the hospital while wearing an ankle monitor, was shot and injured by a police officer, authorities said.

« In my opinion, this is a failure of our criminal justice system, » Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said Monday at a press conference. « A violent individual like this should not have been on an ankle monitor and should have remained in custody. »

Hernandez has been charged with capital murder, but it was unclear Monday whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. He was not among those held in the Dallas County Jail, and authorities said after the shooting he was treated at Methodist and then taken to another medical school for further treatment.

Hernandez arrived at the hospital around 10:20 a.m. to visit the woman in labor and began hitting her repeatedly in the head with a handgun, Garcia said. According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by WFAA-TV, Hernandez was in the hospital for the birth of the child and began hitting his girlfriend with the gun after accusing her of infidelity.

Hernandez then started making ‘ominous’ calls and texting his family, told his girlfriend they were both going to die and said ‘anyone who walks into this room is going to die with us’ , according to the account of the Dallas television network. the affidavit. He shot Pokuaa when she entered the room to attend to the woman, then shot Flowers after he looked into the room and heard gunshots, Garcia said.

Hospital Police Sgt. Robert Rangel saw Flowers being shot, called for reinforcements and hid outside the room where Hernandez was reloading his gun, the chief said. When Hernandez appeared, Rangel shot him in the leg and, after a standoff, police took him into custody, Garcia said.

Garcia said the woman struck by Hernandez was treated for her injuries and a newborn baby who was in the room was uninjured. Police identified the two slain women as nurses and social workers, but did not say who was doing what work.

Hernandez was paroled from prison last October after being convicted of aggravated robbery, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Amanda Hernandez. She said he was allowed to be with his « significant other » in hospital while she was in labor.

Authorities have not released any information about how Hernandez came to have a gun while on parole for a felony conviction. Methodist Medical System Police Chief Glen Fowler said Monday that the hospital had not been told of his criminal history or that he was being monitored with an ankle monitor.

« It’s not something we normally ask of a parent, » Fowler said. « This is an extremely horrific and out of the ordinary situation. I wish we had known, but it was not information given to us in advance. »

Garcia said Hernandez was sentenced to eight years for aggravated robbery, serving six years before being released on parole last year. In March 2022, he was arrested for a parole violation, then in April turned over to his parole officer. In June, Garcia said, Hernandez was arrested by police in a Dallas suburb for another parole violation, taken to a county jail, then released into the custody of Texas Jails, who released him. in September with the ankle monitor he wore while filming.

Dallas County records show Nestor Hernandez has been arrested multiple times since 2011, including aggravated robbery, burglary and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

The Dallas Police Department is leading the investigation into the shooting, which is also being reviewed by the Office of the Inspector General of the Texas Corrections System.