DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF) – A Dallas County jury returned a verdict in the case of the man charged with capital murder in the Dallas Hospital shooting.
31-year-old Nestor Hernandez was found guilty, Thursday, in the shooting deaths of two Methodist Dallas Medical Center healthcare workers in October of 2022. The judge levied the immediate sentence as jurors found 31-year-old guilty of killing Jaqueline Pakuaa and Katie Annette Flowers. Family members of the victims pointed out that Hernandez has no remorse for his actions during impact statements.
The man accused of killing two Methodist Dallas Medical Center employees took the stand in his own defense, Wednesday. Nestor Hernandez took the stand to relate a story of two “accidental” shootings that took the lives of two hospital workers.
The 31-year-old stated that he retrieved the pistol from his girlfriend’s hospital bag, which accidentally went off when they were fighting, hitting Jacqueline Pakuaa. Hernandez said he then panicked and fired into the hallway without looking, hitting Katie Annette Flowers who was also killed.
Both the prosecution and defense have rested their cases in the capital murder trial in Dallas. Closing arguments are set for 9:00 a.m. on Thursday. The accused killer also testified that he wasn’t high on drugs during the shooting, but instead coming down from a high two days earlier when he “snorted a line”.
The jury in the trial of the accused Methodist Hospital gunman also heard forensic evidence from the investigation.
Waleska Castro took gunshot residue samples for the Dallas County Crime Lab.
“I found two particles consistent with primary gunshot residue and they were on the sampling device from the right hand of Nestor Hernandez,” Castro told the jury.
Courtney Ferreira with the crime lab testified about DNA evidence.
“The DNA profile of the major contribution matched the profile of Jacqueline Pokuaa with a statistical weight of less than one in ten-trillion and Nestor Hernandez was included as being potential contributor,” Ferriera said.
Jacqueline Pokuaa along with nurse Annette Flowers were killed. Hernandez was at the hospital after his girlfriend gave birth to their son. Investigators say he had cut off his ankle monitor prior to the shooting.
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