Dallas Methodist shooting trial: Nestor Hernandez found guilty of capital murder; given life sentence

DALLAS - Nestor Hernandez, the man who shot and killed two healthcare workers at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, has been found guilty of capital murder.

The jury started deliberating at about 1:45 p.m., and it took them just over an hour to come back with the guilty verdict for the shooting deaths of Katie Annette Flowers and Jaqueline Pokuaa.

Hernandez did not flinch as the guilty verdict was read.

It was up to the judge to give Hernandez his sentence, and she gave him a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Hernandez showed no visible emotion as relatives of Flowers read victim impact statements.

"I hope every day, for your miserable life, you are haunted by their names, faces, and legacy you cut short," one of Flowers’ relatives said. "I noticed you didn't look up at the autopsy photos. That again shows what kind of a coward you are."

"I lost my momma because she cared more about your son than you did. But you don't care about any of this, if you did, we wouldn't be here in the first place," Flowers' daughter said. 

"I had to endure the trauma of her being murdered, a middle schooler listening to the detectives describe how you killed her, and now I'm 15 having to live it again this week," Flowers’ granddaughter said.

Most of Pokuaa’s family lives in Ghana. They were not in court.

Flowers’ family said the verdict was a relief.

"He showed no remorse, so I have no remorse for him," Kelly Flowers added.

On Wednesday, Hernandez took the witness stand in his own defense, maintaining that he did not intend to kill the two women.

His attorney said it was the right decision to put his client on the witness stand because, without his version of events - which largely contradicted his ex-girlfriend's account and forensic evidence - the jury would not have had any narrative to consider a lesser charge.

"There wasn't a whole lot to work here with the facts of this case were particularly egregious. Our feelings go out to the Flowers and Pokuaa family. We did make sure the defendant got his day in court and his rights enforced. The jury made the decision we live with that," attorney Paul Johnson said. "I think it was a fairly well-tried case on both sides that will prevent anything from really occurring on appeal, so I believe this will be basically the end of the case."

In a statement, Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot said "justice was done…knowing that justice is no replacement for these two innocent lives lost."

The prosecution and defense gave closing arguments on Thursday.

Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot opened the closing arguments for the prosecution.

The defense called on the jury to find Hernandez guilty of a lesser offense. 

In their closing, they argued that the evidence presented by the prosecution does not rise to the level of capital murder.

"They haven't proven that he intentionally went in there and did that," said the defense attorney. "Return a verdict that is justice and not revenge."

The prosecution then had an opportunity to respond.

They played a clip of the body camera from the day of the shooting where Hernandez claimed that his girlfriend had cheated on him.

"He is a coward," said George Lewis of the Dallas County District Attorney's Office of Hernandez. "He brought their drama to these women."

The defense rested their case late Wednesday after Hernandez took the stand in his own defense.

READ MORE: Dallas Methodist shooting trial: Suspect Nestor Hernandez claims shootings were unintentional

Hernandez, who was a convicted felon before the shooting, claimed the shootings in the mother-baby unit of the Dallas hospital were unintentional.

He also admitted on the stand he was high, he was drinking, and he planned to confront the mother of his child because he thought she gave him an STD.

In testimony that directly contradicted earlier testimony from his ex-girlfriend, Selena Villatora, he told the jury he was fighting with Villatoro when a social worker, Pokuaa, tried to break them up.

Hernandez claimed that his gun went off during the struggle, hitting Pokuaa.

He then said in the chaos he shot two times into the open doorway, and did not see anyone there. He claimed those were the shots that hit a nurse, Flowers.

"It was going 100 miles per hour," Hernandez testified. "It’s not what I want to believe. It’s the truth."

A nearby officer shot Hernandez in the leg. Hernandez then retreated to the hospital room, where he called his mother before his arrest.

"You couldn’t walk away? We had to sit there and watch you cry for your mommy, after we sat here and watched over and over again, how you made sure we will never be able to do that again," Sarah Flowers said.

Hernandez admitted to killing both of the women, but repeatedly said he did not intend to kill them.

The defense wanted the jury to find Hernandez guilty of the lesser charge of murder, instead of capital murder.

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