Man beheads pet bird before assaulting pregnant girlfriend

A Nederland man was arrested last December after allegedly beheading a pet bird and assaulting his pregnant girlfriend following accusations of her being unfaithful.

Nederland police officers were dispatched to Nederland Avenue in reference to a disturbance involving a man, identified as Hernan Cortez Hernandez, 26, assaulting his girlfriend, who was five months pregnant at the time. 

The victim told officers Hernandez was mad at her for the way she spoke to a patron at the restaurant where she works as a bartender. Hernandez accused the victim of cheating when she arrived home. He then began assaulting her by punching her several times. Officers observed multiple scratches on the victim’s face, stomach and right side, as well as bruises on both arms. 

The woman told officers she was initially too afraid to call 911 for help because Hernandez told her he’d send someone to kill her if she did. And taking lives is well within Hernandez’s ability, according to the indictment, as evidenced by an animal cruelty charge for killing a pet bird belonging to his girlfriend’s mom. 

Hernandez told his girlfriend that he killed the bird before he turned his violence on her. Hernandez showed his girlfriend the dead bird in a trash can before taking its severed head and throwing it at the woman. Hernandez was arrested for assaulting a pregnant woman and animal cruelty, both third degree felonies.