Authorities have identified one of the two Dallas hospital employees who police say were fatally shot over the weekend by a 30-year-old man who opened fire after accusing his girlfriend of infidelity while she was at the medical facility to give birth. Jacqueline Pokuaa, 45, was killed in the Saturday shooting at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, the Dallas County medical examiner’s office said . A spokeswoman for the office said the manner and cause of death were still being reviewed and that it wasn't yet prepared to release the identity of the other person who was killed.
Authorities have said Nestor Hernandez opened fire around 11 a.m. Saturday while at the hospital for the birth of a child by his “significant other.” Hernandez, who was on parole from prison at the time and had been granted permission to be at the hospital, was shot and wounded by a police officer and taken to another medical facility for care, authorities said.
Hernandez has been charged with capital murder. A Dallas County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman said he hadn't been booked into jail as of late Sunday, and it wasn't immediately clear if he has an attorney.
Police have released little information on what led to the shooting. But according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by WFAA-TV, Hernandez was at the hospital for the birth of his child when he accused his girlfriend of cheating on him and began to strike her in the head with a handgun.
Hernandez then started making “ominous” calls and sending text messages to his family, told his girlfriend that they were both going to die and said “whoever comes in this room is going to die with us,” according to the Dallas TV station's account of the affidavit. It reportedly says Hernandez shot two employees who entered the room before a hospital police officer shot him in the leg.
Authorities haven't released any information on the girlfriend's health or how Hernandez came to have a gun while on parole for a felony conviction. The Dallas County district clerk's office said it hadn't received the affidavit from police. A Dallas Police Department spokeswoman declined to provide the document, saying the department was assisting hospital police on the case. A spokesman for the hospital system and its police department didn't immediately respond to an emailed request for the document Monday.
Hernandez was released on parole last October after having been sentenced to prison for aggravated robbery, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Amanda Hernandez. She said he was granted leave to be with his “significant other” at the hospital during her delivery Saturday.
Authorities have not disclosed the specific conditions of his parole, but police said Hernandez was wearing an ankle monitor during the shooting.
Dallas County records show that Nestor Hernandez has been arrested repeatedly since 2011, including on charges of aggravated robbery, burglary and the unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
