Methodist hospital shooting suspect Nestor Hernandez indicted for murder of 2 employees
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — The man accused of shooting and killing two nurses at Methodist Dallas in October has now been indicted for their murders.
What happened
At about 11 a.m. on Oct. 22, 30-year-old Nestor Hernandez reportedly brought a gun inside the medical center and began shooting at hospital employees in the mother-baby unit, striking and killing 45-year-old Jacqueline Pokuaa and 63-year-old Katie Flowers.
Both victims, one a nurse, the other a case worker, died trying to help one of their patients—a new mother who turned out to be Hernandez's girlfriend.
Investigators said Hernandez was given permission to visit his girlfriend after she gave birth to their child.
However, with their newborn in the room, Hernandez accused her of infidelity. According to an arrest warrant, he then started searching the closet and bathroom for anyone else in the room. He also struck his girlfriend multiple times on the head with his gun, the warrant states.
"We are both going to die today," he allegedly told his girlfriend, followed by, "Whoever comes into this room is going to die with us."
Before the shooting, Hernandez served only six years of an eight-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery in 2015.
Criminal defense attorney Toby Shook said Hernandez had two prior felony convictions before that.
"It defies all logic why the prosecutor made the decision to only to agree to an eight-year plea deal," Shook said. "They had rock solid evidence, they had a long violent criminal history. They had a minimum 25 years they were working with."
Along with the murder charge indictments, Hernandez was also convicted of a May 2012 robbery and of an aggravated robbery that happened in May 2015.
Back in October, CBS DFW asked Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot if he would seek the death penalty for Hernandez if convicted. He said he was not ready to announce that decision.