Nestor Hernandez, man accused of killing 2 Dallas hospital workers, says shooting was an accident
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — The man accused of killing two Dallas hospital workers shortly after his girlfriend gave birth says the shooting was an accident.
Nestor Hernandez took the stand in his own defense Wednesday—the last day of testimony in his capital murder trial.
"I wasn't thinking right. I just wasn't," he said. "I didn't even see the second nurse in the hallway."
Hernandez insisted what happened inside Methodist Dallas Hospital last October was accidental and that he never intended to kill a nurse and a social worker on the labor and delivery floor.
"I opened up the door...and I shot out the door twice, 'Boom boom,'" he recalled. "I didn't even look outside. I just shot."
The 31-year-old capital murder defendant was seen on security video walking into the maternity ward and later into his girlfriend's room, where he says they had an argument over whether she would give their baby his last name.
He testified that they were both fighting over a gun when a nurse walked in on them.
"The nurse tried to stop the fight," Hernandez explained. "She got in between us...and the gun went off. I was kind of confused for a little bit and she said, 'What did you do? This is your fault...this is your fault.'"
He testified that he panicked afterward and fired blindly into the hallway.
Prosecutors pointed out that the testimony contradicts physical evidence and questioned Hernandez's story that the shootings were unintentional during cross-examination.
Do you admit you killed both of them?
"Not intentionally."
You killed both these women, didn't you?
"I did but not intentionally, sir."
Closing arguments take place Thursday morning, and because prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty, Hernandez will automatically receive a life sentence if convicted with no chance of parole.