Texas lawmakers want to make it a crime to turn off ankle monitors in response to a deadly shooting at a Methodist hospital.

DALLAS — State Representative Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) has filed legislation in response to the tragic October 2022 shooting at Dallas Methodist Hospital.

Anchia named two accounts after Jacqueline Poquaa and Annette Flowers, two hospital workers killed in that shooting.

The suspect, Nestor Hernandez, was on parole and was wearing an ankle monitor when it happened.

Legislators and law enforcement officials were outraged that Hernandez was on the streets, as he violated parole several times by failing drug tests, skipping curfew, and turning off his ankle monitor.

In Texas, it’s not a crime to cut off a foot monitor. Under the law of Pokuaa and Flowers, this would be a criminal offense.

“I had no idea that cutting off an ankle monitor wasn’t massively illegal yet. This would make it so that no one who cuts off an ankle monitor, regardless of type, will not only serve the remainder of their sentence, but will be charged with a felony in a state prison,” Anchia said.

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia pushed for changes, saying the system had failed.

“Lack of accountability is costing us lives, it has cost us Jackie, Kathy and others. We will all need to work together to pass and sign legislation to further protect our city,” Garcia said.

Police said Hernandez beat his girlfriend after she had just given birth.

In an exclusive interview with the WFAA in February, his girlfriend Selena Vigliatoro said he was drunk and brutally beat her while she was holding the baby.

“He was so close and he could hit him and he could die. It was crazy. I don’t know why he did it and I kept asking him, “Why did you do that?” Vigliatoro said.

Villatoro said that Hernandez went to the door and shot the case worker Pokuaa and nurse Flowers after threatening to kill anyone who came through the door.

Their murders outraged the public, with police and lawmakers wondering why Hernandez’s parole had not been revoked.

Hernandez had permission from his parole officer to be in the hospital, but no one informed the hospital police that he would be there. Another proposed law that would change this is called the Jacqueline Pokuaa and Kathy Annette Flowers Law.

“Hospitals should be notified by the board of pardons and parole when a perpetrator steps into their buildings,” Anchia said.

While Hernandez is charged with murder punishable by death of hospital workers, the new law will make assaulting any hospital worker a third-degree felony.

“We know emotions run high sometimes, but we need a safe place for patients, their families and, of course, our healthcare professionals,” said Stephen Love, president and CEO of the Dallas Fort Worth Hospital Council.

Anchia said the bills are a way to prevent something like this from happening again.