Nicolas Jaimes-Hernandez’s 8-year-old son witnessed his father shoot and kill Monica Delgado Aviles and her two teenage children on September 28 and told investigators Jaimes-Hernandez was still holding the silver pistol when the boy woke up the next morning, according to arrest records made public Friday.
Texas Ranger Jim Hatfield Jr., lead investigator in last month’s shocking incidents that left five dead in McGregor, obtained arrest warrants on Wednesday that charged Jaimes-Hernandez with two counts of capital murder.
35-year-old Jaimes-Hernandez, a native of Mexico, was shot by McGregor police officers on Sept. 29 and remains in a local hospital with injuries that authorities have said left him paralyzed.
One capital murder warrant charges Jaimes-Hernandez in the shooting deaths of the 38-year-old Aviles, with whom Jaimes-Hernandez was living on South Monroe; and Aviles’ children, 15-year-old Miguel Avila and 14-year-old Natalie Avila.
The second warrant charges him in the shooting deaths of Lori Aviles and her 20-year-old daughter, Natalie, who lived next door.
Defendants can be charged with capital murder, which carries a potential death sentence, if they are suspected of killing more than one person during the same criminal transaction.
According to the arrest affidavits, Jaimes-Hernandez’s three children, ages, 8, 6 and 4, were in the home the night of Sept. 28 and their father told them to go to bed. The three children were interviewed after the incident at the Advocacy Center for Crime Victims and Children and the older boy told interviewers that he saw his father walking around the house with a gun.
The boy said, “he saw suspect holding a gun and shoot his mother, sister and brother,” the affidavit alleges. The boy “advised suspect shot (Miguel Avila) while he was in his bed in the front room, suspect shot (Natalie Avila) in his little sister’s room and shot his mother in her room.”
Jaimes-Hernandez told his younger two children to go into a closet, according to the affidavit.
“They were told to go to bed, and suspect was still holding the gun when they woke up the next morning,” the affidavit states. The boy “stated suspect kept walking around to check each room as he held the gun.”
The next morning, McGregor officers responded to reports of shots fired in the 900 block of South Monroe. McGregor police Sgt. Jason Grochowski saw a gray truck driven by Jaimes-Hernandez drive away and he and other officers tried to stop the vehicle. Jaimes-Hernandez stopped a block away and Grochowski saw him shoot twice out of the passenger-side window at a man standing on a second-floor balcony, the affidavit states.
“McGregor Police Officers shot suspect and took him into custody,” the affidavit states. “Suspect had in his possession a silver/gray, 9mm handgun and ammunition. Suspect was taken to the hospital for treatment.”
While officers were providing emergency medical assistance to Jaimes-Hernandez, they were directed to 901 S. Monroe, where they found Lori Aviles dead outside the residence and discovered Natalie Aviles inside the home, according to the affidavit.
Lori Aviles’ two sons, both McGregor High School students, went to school just minutes before the shooting erupted, officials have said.
Hatfield said he tried to talk to Jaimes-Hernandez at the hospital. “However, suspect did not voluntarily waive his rights,” the affidavit states.
Child Protective Services officials are seeking to terminate Jaimes-Hernandez’s parental rights to his three children. However, the court filings are not available because Nikki Mundkowsky, CPS specialty court judge, ordered the file sealed in the case.
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