The man accused of gunning down two hospital employees this weekend at Dallas Methodist Medical Center was moved to jail Wednesday, four days after he was hospitalized, according to jail records.
Nestor Oswaldo Hernandez, 30, was shot in the leg by a Methodist police officer Saturday, moments after he fatally shot Jacqueline Ama Pokuaa and Katie Annette Flowers inside the hospital in north Oak Cliff, Dallas police said. He was initially treated at Methodist, but was moved to a different hospital, police said.
He faces a capital murder charge. His bail amount had not been set Wednesday, and it was unclear whether he had an attorney.
Hernandez was on parole and had an active ankle monitor when he went to the hospital’s labor and delivery wing Saturday, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He had permission to be there because his girlfriend gave birth to their child, the prison system said. Hernandez’s newborn baby was in the room during the shooting but wasn’t injured, police said.
Tiffani Butler, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said Wednesday that Child Protective Services received a report about Hernandez after the shooting, which would trigger an investigation.
During such investigations, she said, officials speak with relatives to “understand what the home environment was like.” If the agency decides the environment isn’t safe, the child can be taken away from their parents, she said.
Once inside the hospital room Saturday, Hernandez accused his girlfriend of cheating on him, then pulled a handgun from his pants and struck her in the head repeatedly, Dallas police said. He told her he’d shoot anyone who walked into the room, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit.
Pokuaa was shot as she entered the room and Flowers was shot moments later, police said.
Dallas police Chief Eddie García said Hernandez then reloaded his gun and began to exit the room, but a Methodist police officer forced him to retreat after he shot him in the leg. After a brief standoff, Hernandez surrendered, García said Monday.
Hernandez was sentenced to prison for eight years in 2015 for an aggravated robbery conviction, but was released on parole in 2021 after he served 80% of his sentence, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles said. He violated parole twice this year, once in March for violating curfew and another time in June when he cut off his ankle monitor, Dallas police said.
A parole panel decided June 28 to re-incarcerate him after he cut off his ankle monitor, and he served a total of 100 days in custody, the state board said. His parole terms have been heavily criticized by police officials including García, who said Monday that ankle monitors aren’t a form of accountability and the criminal justice system failed.
Flowers, 63, was described in social media tributes as a well-loved nurse who cared for others, and 45-year-old case worker Pokuaa was memorialized as someone who was calm during chaos.
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(Dallas Morning News staff writer Jamie Landers contributed to this report.)
