Texas House candidate on Methodist Dallas Medical Center shooting: ‘We must do better’

Jamee Jolly, a Republican campaigning for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives, sides with Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia about the lack of accountability for broken system in Texas and alleges her Democratic opponent supports the early release of violent criminals following a fatal shooting at a Dallas hospital.

Garcia had tweeted about the Oct. 22 shooting at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, maintaining the criminal justice system is broken and extends more chances to criminals than victims. Jolly, who is seeking the 70th District House seat in a race against Democrat Mihaela Plesa, responded with a tweet of her own. 

“Agree. We must do better,” Jolly posted on her social media account. “My opponent is advocating for the complete opposite and supports the early release of violent criminals.”

The shooting at the Dallas hospital has put Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas State Parole Board under the microscope, according to the Dallas Morning News. Nestor Oswaldo Hernandez shot and killed two women in the hospital’s labor and delivery area before being killed by a hospital police officer. 

According to the Morning News, Hernandez was on parole and had been given permission to go to the hospital to visit his girlfriend, who had given birth to their child. The newspaper reported that he accused his girlfriend of infidelity and told her they were both “going to die today” and that anyone who came into the room “is going to die with us.”

However, the fact that Hernandez was granted parole at all has some people angered, including Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat who is seeking to unseat Abbott in the Texas gubernatorial race. 

“He should have never had the freedom to carry out a violent act that took the lives of Katie Flowers and Jacqueline Pokuaa, a nurse and a social worker, who dedicated their careers to saving lives at Dallas Methodist Hospital,” Tori Larned, a spokeswoman for O’Rourke, said in a statement to the Morning News.