Methodist hospital shooting suspect has history of felony convictions
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Since the deadly shooting at Methodist Hospital, CBS 11 has been asking questions to explain why Nestor Hernandez was walking free.
Now, we've uncovered what could be the most glaring lapse in the justice system that failed the victims of murder suspect Hernandez.
We now know that Hernandez served only six years of an eight year sentence for aggravated robbery in 2015.
"I was shocked once I read the facts of the case in his criminal record that he got as little as eight years and I thought that is a missed opportunity to protect the public," said Toby Shook.
Shook has worked both sides of the courtroom as a top prosecutor and now, a criminal defense attorney.
He isn't connected to the case, but Shook says Hernandez should have been serving a minimum 25 year prison sentence instead of allegedly walking into Methodist Hospital on Saturday, killing two medical workers after beating up his girlfriend in front of their newborn in the room.
"And I think if they could take in that case trial, they could have gotten 50 years on it," Shook said. "But he was just pled eight years."
He's talking about a 2015 aggravated robbery case that involved the violent beating of a woman.
Shook says Hernandez had two prior felony convictions before that.
He said it should have automatically allowed the Dallas County District Attorney Office, then led by Susan Hawk, to enhance the punishment, and offer a plea deal of no less than 25 years, since that's the minimum sentence he would have received if he was convicted.
"It defies all logic why the prosecutor made the decision to only to agree to an eight year plea deal," Shook said. "They had rock solid evidence, they had a long violent criminal history. They had a minimum 25 years they were working with."
Current Dallas County DA John Creuzot, who took over the office in 2019, told CBS 11 that no one who prosecuted that case still works there and added:
"Though I cannot say what directives were given to the staff in 2015 or know what they were thinking, in my opinion, eight years was too low. I can also tell you that today we are focused on accountability for violent crimes, as evidenced by my office disposing of approximately 730 homicides since January 2019."
We are still working to track down the prosecutor who handled the case and subsequent plea deal.
CBS 11 asked the current district attorney if he would seek the death penalty for Hernandez if convicted. He said he's not ready to announce that decision.
