Nestor Hernandez, 30, faces capital murder charges in the double homicide shooting at Dallas Methodist Hospital. He’d been arrested twice while on parole this year.
DALLAS — The suspect in the Dallas Methodist Hospital shooting cut off his ankle monitor earlier this year, violating his parole conditions for a second time — but he was then released after spending 100 days in custody at the order of the state parole board, law enforcement sources confirmed to WFAA on Tuesday.
Nestor Hernandez, 30, was first arrested by Dallas police for a parole violation during a minor accident investigation in March. He was then released to his parole officer in April, Dallas police said.
Hw was then arrested on a parole violation by Carrollton police in June — the result of Hernandez cutting off his own ankle monitor, law enforcement sources told WFAA.
Carrollton officers had spotted Hernandez at an apartment building and were aware of a “full extradition warrant” issued on him by the Texas Pardon and Parole Board.
On June 17, two Carrollton police officers approached and detained Hernandez, and confirmed his warrant. Hernandez was then taken to the Carrollton jail and released to his parole officer, who then booked him into the Dallas County Jail.
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles officials on Tuesday confirmed that Hernandez was arrested for a parole violation of not complying with his electronic monitoring requirements.
The officials said Hernandez’s case went before a parole board panel on June 28. The panel decided to reincarcerate him in a “secure Intermediate Sanction Facility,” officials said.
Parole officials also confirmed that Hernandez spent a total of 100 days between his stays at the Dallas County Jail and the state’s Intermediate Sanction Facility (ISF) — a holding center for stints of not less than 60 days and no greater than 180 days. They added also that “the Board defers to the detaining agency (TDCJ) for the specific length for each offender so long as it is within those timeframes.”
On Monday, officials said that Hernandez was released from state custody in September, again under the condition of him wearing an ankle monitor. On Tuesday, sources confirmed to WFAA that Hernandez was released from ISF on September 28.
This new information revealed Tuesday sheds more light on how Hernandez, a convicted felon with a history of violent crime arrests, was able to be at Methodist Hospital when his girlfriend was giving birth to their child.
According to the TDCJ, Hernandez was previously released for parole on his eight-year 2015 aggravated robbery sentence on October 21, 2021, with a special condition of electronic ankle monitoring. TDCJ also confirmed that Hernandez was additionally “granted permission to be at the hospital with his significant other during delivery [of their child].” Sources confirm to WFAA that he was wearing his ankle monitor at the time of the Methodist Hospital shooting.
According to his arrest warrant from Dallas Police, Hernandez began “acting strangely” at the hospital and accused his girlfriend of cheating on him. The suspect soon started searching the room to see if anyone else was in there, according to the warrant. Hernandez then pulled out a handgun and hit his girlfriend multiple times in the head with it, the affidavit said.
Per the warrant, Hernandez then started placing “ominous” calls and text messages to his family, and told his girlfriend, “We are both going to die today” and “whoever comes in this room is going to die with us.”
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia has been critical of how Hernandez’s case was handled, calling it “an abhorrent failure of our criminal justice system.”
On Tuesday, Garcia further detailed his disgust in how the system handled Hernandez.
“This is about the continuation of giving violent criminals more chances than our victims,” Garcia said. “He violated those conditions of parole in March — he was rereleased in march on an ankle monitor — and he violated those conditions again in June, where he cut off his ankle monitor. He served 100 days in custody and was released back on the very supervision on the ankle monitor that didn’t work twice. At what point do we recognize that’s enough chances for violent individuals? That you have to serve the rest of your time?”
He continued: “Ankle monitors, in my opinion, do not work for violent criminals. Obviously, it did not work in this case. They are useless when it comes to violent criminals. They obviously help with individuals who follow the rules, but when you are a violent criminal it’s difficult to monitor that activity. In this case, we have an individual who violated it three times — once in March, once in June and again with the tragedy he had last weekend. It doesn’t give anybody in the community a sense of relief when they see the same individual who committed a crime back in their neighborhood.”
Former Dallas County prosecutor Toby Shook says the 2015 crime should have had a minimum sentence of 25 years because of Hernandez’s criminal history, and that the plea agreement for eight years doesn’t make sense.
“Why they did that isn’t clear, but that clearly gave him an avenue to get out of prison early — and, with his violent history, that’s a very dangerous thing for the public,” Shook said. “It’s not that complicated. You have a violent offender who has a long history of violence. Using your common sense, he’s going to commit more violent crimes.”