DALLAS — The two victims who were fatally shot at Dallas Methodist Hospital on Saturday have been identified.
Both victims were identified as Jacqueline Pokuaa, 45, and Annette Flowers, 63, who were the two Methodist employees who died in the shooting that happened around 11:15 a.m. Saturday.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia publicly identified the two victims during a news conference on Monday afternoon. Police said Katie Flowers is the second victim's legal name, but friends told WFAA that she goes by Annette.
Pokuaa was from Ghana and moved to the U.S. with four friends over 20 years ago. The Ghana Nurses Association described her as friendly with a big smile.
"This is a big tragedy in the family, the community, in the medical field," said Aba Amprofi-Halm of the nurses association. "When these is chaos, she's very calm and that's her personality. And that's what she died doing... she died helping."
Amprofi-Halm said Pokuaa leaves behind one son.
A nurse at the hospital told WFAA that Flowers was a "great caring nurse who love her job."
"She loved her daughters and grand-babies. She recently renovated her house and was looking forward to retirement," the nurse said about Flowers.
Nestor Hernandez, 30, faces a capital murder charge in the shooting. Hernandez was on parole at the time of the shooting.
He was released on parole in 2021 on an aggravated assault felony charge he pleaded guilty to in 2015. According to his plea agreement in that earlier case, Hernandez was sentenced to eight years in prison.
According to an arrest warrant obtained by WFAA on the Saturday shooting, Hernandez went to the hospital to visit his girlfriend who had given birth to their child. The warrant stated that Hernandez began "acting strangely" and accused his girlfriend of cheating on him.
The suspect than started searching the room to see if anyone else was in there, according to the warrant. The warrant then stated that Hernandez pulled out a handgun and hit his girlfriend in the head multiple times with it.
According to the warrant, his girlfriend told police that Hernandez made statements such as, "We are both going to die today," and "Whoever comes in this room is going to die with us."
The warrant stated that Pokuaa then entered the room and was fatally shot by Hernandez. According to the warrant, Flowers and Methodist Hospital police officer Sgt. Robert Rangel were in the hallway and heard the gunshot. The warrant stated that Flowers then looked into the room to see the first victim's body, and was also fatally shot by Hernandez.
Sgt. Rangel then took cover and shot Hernandez in the right leg, according to the warrant.
Hernandez was then detained and taken to another hospital for treatment.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia tweeted that the Dallas Police Department's hearts go out to those affected by the shooting, adding that he was "outraged" at the "lack of accountability" in the justice system. Garcia further said that "the fact that, under this broken system, we give violent criminals more chances than our victims" is a "travesty."