A welfare check led police to discover the death of Melissa Hernandez on Dec. 3. Police have a suspect in custody, Hector Davila.
According to the arrest affidavit, Hernandez had been living with Davila for a month or two as his home healthcare provider.
According to testimony within the document, Hernandez’s family said Davila was obsessive over his health caretaker and acted like a jealous boyfriend.
Hernandez told her family she was "scared" of him.
The document states Hernandez was found stabbed dozens of times and had lacerations on her neck and face.
The way Hernandez was found bares a resemblance to another murder case. One Davila was convicted for 30 years ago.
Court documents we've obtained a state in 1991, Davila and his wife were having issues. This particular instance stemmed from Davila not having a job.
In a voluntary statement he made to police, Davila wrote that on the morning of Sept. 15, 1991, he walked into the bedroom and shot his wife three times.
He then placed a blanket over her and then left the house with his 3-year-old daughter. The next day he returned to the bedroom to wrap her in more blankets, he placed towels to trap the smell and he nailed the door shut. She was found by her family a few days later.
The gun Davila used was bought just a few days prior. After the shooting, he pawned the gun at a nearby shop.
Davila was sentenced to 60 years in prison for murder.
However, he was released on parole in Nov. of 2018, having served 27 years.
During his court process for the crime committed in 1991, documents show Davila was given a psychiatric evaluation.
In summary, the evaluator said they weren’t sure of his mental state, but ruled him competent. They wrote Davila showed signs of schizophrenia, but at times seemed competent.
He spoke of a shellfish conspiracy that made him paranoid that someone was going to kill him.
He said he heard a voice in his head, but could never elaborate on what the voice was telling him. The evaluator wrote they believed he said these things to build a case for insanity.
The judge in his 1991 case requested Davila get psychiatric help while in prison, but it’s unclear if that happened.
We reached out to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to ask why Davila was released early when he must serve half his sentence before becoming eligible.
They said the statute at the time of his crime said he only needed to serve one-quarter of his sentence.
He was eligible for parole in 2006. Davila was denied parole eight times before they approved him in 2018.
A stipulation was added that he complete a three-month treatment program to be released.
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