Jimmie Jerome Hiners, aka Jimmie "Nookie" Hiners, is kind of an open book. The marijuana leaf tattooed on the front of his neck tells you that he really likes weed, probably too much. The word "Blood" on his left arm tells you that he claims affiliation with that particular street gang. His other ink -- the "KE-KE" on the right side of his chest, the "Juanita" and "YB" on his neck, the "POE" on the back of his left hand -- no doubt carry, or once carried, their own significance.
Hiners' criminal history is even easier to decipher. The 27-year-old has been picked up any number of times by Dallas police and has been convicted on a half dozen counts of burglary and one of car theft between 2002 and and 2008. That last time, he was sentenced to eight years in prison, but he was paroled after only three.
Hiners then enjoyed a remarkable year-long stretch of not getting charged with crimes. Then, his girlfriend left him.
According to court documents, Hiners and the woman, whom we won't identify other than to say that her name's not Juanita, had been living together for six months when she decided to go. She was at her sister's place when, on August 20, 2012, Hiners decided to try and persuade her to stay.
He showed up just as she was leaving and, after a brief shouting match, wrapped his arm around her neck and put her in a choke hold. He began dragging her toward the back of the apartment building, the pressure cutting off her air. When they were behind the building, he pulled out a silver handgun and pointed it at her head. "I'll kill you, bitch," he hissed. "I'll kill you."
He released her neck let her drop to the asphalt, where she lay gasping for air. But Hiners wasn't quite done. According to police, he grabbed her hair and dragged her across the parking lot until a couple of neighbors saw what was happening and yelled at Hiners to stop. He ran.
Hiners was later arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He appeared in court on January 3, and entered a guilty plea. Then, he vanished. In April, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles issued an arrest warrant for parole violation. Last month, Dallas County followed suit with an warrant of its own.
Yesterday, the Texas Department of Public Safety placed Hiners on the state's 10-most-wanted list. They're offering a reward of up to $10,000. He's considered armed and dangerous. Both his family and his last known address are in Dallas. He has, the DPS notes, "no record of gainful employment."
