A Dallas County jury convicted Nestor Hernandez of capital murder Thursday for shooting and killing two workers at Methodist Dallas Medical Center last year.
Hernandez, 31, killed 45-year-old social worker Jacqueline Pokuaa and 63-year-old nurse Katie “Annette” Flowers on Oct. 22, 2022.
Prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty in the case, but a conviction on a capital murder charge means Hernandez will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The jury was asked to also consider lesser charges of murder, manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide — but Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot argued against that.
“Based on believable and credible evidence in this case and what you've heard and seen, [Hernandez] was walking around, masquerading, going into that building as a caring, loving father, coming in to see his child and tend to the mother,” Creuzot said. “But you know that's not true by his own admission. He was full of anger and rage.”
He was also charged with two separate counts of aggravated assault tied to the shooting but hasn’t been tried on those.
Hernandez was released from prison on parole for aggravated robbery in 2021 and had an ankle monitor, but officials said he had permission to be at the hospital where his girlfriend Selena Villatoro gave birth to their son.
Hospital surveillance footage showed Hernandez entering the maternity ward with a Steel Reserve beer can in hand. Villatoro said in her testimony Tuesday an argument escalated between her and Hernandez, during which he thought someone else was hiding in her hospital room. She said he accused her of cheating and hit her over the head with a gun.
Villatoro said he threatened to kill them both and anyone else who walked into the room. When Pokuaa came in to perform a routine check on Villatoro, Hernandez walked behind the social worker and shot her in the back of the head.
Villatoro said he then reloaded the pistol. Dallas police showed a photo of seven bullets at the crime scene.
“At the end of the day, this man is a coward,” prosecutor George Lewis said, before quoting a line from graphic body camera footage played during the trial. “He's talking about, 'we're going to die today.' Nah, some other people are going to die.”
Methodist Hospital Sergeant Robert Rangel’s body camera footage shows after that gunshot, Rangel and Flowers headed toward the sound. Hernandez then shot twice, hitting Flowers in the face.
Rangel testified he briefly made eye contact with Hernandez and moments later shot him in the leg through the doorway.
Rangel tried to negotiate with Hernandez to drop the gun and let the other people in the room out, but Hernandez said there would be no working things out. A woman could be heard screaming in the background while Hernandez demanded the baby.
In his testimony Wednesday, Hernandez said both shootings were unintentional, and his pistol went off during a physical fight with Villatoro. He claimed Pokuaa, who was trying to break up the fight, was shot accidentally.
He said his panicked mind was going “a hundred miles per hour” when he shot out into the hallway to create a distraction and didn't know he hit Flowers.
Hernandez’s attorneys didn’t argue that he was innocent, but reiterated he didn't intentionally shoot and kill the women. Defense attorney Paul Johnson said Hernandez’s testimony proved he and Villatoro had a rocky relationship, and the situation in the hospital escalated because of things she did.
“Even though none of you could imagine possibly the horror and the harm that he caused,” Johnson said, "every one of you could sit there and at certain times go, ‘I think I know how he was feeling.’”
According to a KERA News review of Dallas County records, Hernandez was convicted of multiple felonies before the alleged shooting, including robbery, burglary of a habitation and possession of a controlled substance.
Hernandez was also accused of six different ankle monitor violations, though two were resolved because of an equipment or scheduling error, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Board of Pardons and Paroles.
In response, Gov. Greg Abbott signed two bills inspired by the shooting into law this summer. Senate Bill 1004, sponsored in the House by state Rep. Rafael Anchia of Dallas, makes tampering with an ankle monitor a crime. SB 840, or the Pokuaa-Flowers Act, raises the criminal penalty for assaulting hospital workers.
Lewis told jurors to think of the family, friends and coworkers Pokuaa and Flowers left behind when deciding Hernandez's fate.
"You speak not only for those people," he said. "You speak for this community when you tell him that he's guilty of capital murder and that we're not going to tolerate this kind of foolishness and violence here in Dallas County."
Lewis read out an emailed statement from Pokuaa's brother because her family couldn't make it to the courthouse Thursday. It said their pain was deep, and the family couldn't grieve enough for Pokuaa and the son she left behind, Nigel.
Flowers' daughters attended nearly every day of Hernandez's trial. They described her in victim statements as a devoted health care worker and single mother with a heart of gold.
"All of this show here is for them," said Sarah Flowers, Katie Flowers' second daughter. "My mother, Annette Flowers. Jackie Pokuaa. Every health care professional across the globe. They do not deserve, nor should they ever have to worry about their safety going into work every day."
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified where on her body Flowers was shot.
Got a tip? Email Toluwani Osibamowo at tosibamowo@kera.org. You can follow Toluwani on Twitter @tosibamowo.
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