A sign outside of the Methodist Dallas Medical Center. Photo by Rachel Stone.
A man accused of shooting and killing two medical workers at Methodist Dallas Medical Center last October is set to face trial this week.
Nestor Hernandez, 31, is charged with capital murder in connection with the deaths of Jacqueline Pokuaa and Katie Flowers. If convicted, Hernandez faces an automatic life sentence.
Jury selection is expected to be underway Monday, and testimony in the case is expected to begin Tuesday in the Downtown Dallas courthouse.
Hernandez also faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault causing bodily injury (family violence) and aggravated assault against a public servant. According to jail records, he has remained in the Dallas County Jail since the shooting on Oct. 22, 2022.
Hernandez’s bond totals over $3 million.
At the time of the shooting, Hernandez was wearing an ankle-monitor and was on parole for a 2015 aggravated robbery. He had violated his parole multiple times before, including cutting off his ankle monitor earlier in 2022, police said.
The shooting inspired state legislation that would make it a felony with stiffened penalties for a parolee to cut off a court-mandated ankle monitor. The bill, which was presented in March, is part of a legislative package known as the Pokuaa-Flowers Act, named after the Methodist Dallas workers.
Dallas Democratic state Rep. Rafael Anchía, who presented the bills, said in a public statement that officials tried to analyze “the last best chances for us to have avoided this tragedy.”
“Law enforcement arrested, law enforcement jailed him,” Anchía said at Monday’s press conference. “It was the rest of the system that really failed.”
