Case overview
Kendra Hatcher, a 35-year-old pediatric dentist, was shot in the head in the parking garage of her Dallas apartment building on September 2, 2015. Within weeks, investigators traced the killing to a hired conspiracy involving her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend, a getaway driver, and the alleged triggerman. The case turned on surveillance footage, cell records, and testimony that pointed to jealousy as the motive behind a carefully planned homicide.
The last hours
Hatcher had spent the afternoon with her boyfriend, Ricardo “Ricky” Paniagua, a dermatologist she had been dating for several months. That evening, she returned alone to the Gables Park 17 apartment complex in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas. Security cameras captured her silver Lexus entering the parking garage at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Moments later, footage showed a dark Jeep Cherokee entering behind her. Hatcher parked and exited her vehicle. A figure approached from the Jeep. A single gunshot was fired at close range. Hatcher was struck in the back of the head and collapsed near her car. The shooter fled in the Jeep. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
There was no robbery. Her purse, phone, and keys were untouched. Investigators immediately treated the killing as targeted.
Surveillance and the Jeep
The parking garage footage became the foundation of the investigation. Detectives traced the black Jeep Cherokee through traffic and security cameras across Dallas. Within 48 hours, they identified the vehicle and its registered owner, Crystal Cortes.
Cortes was brought in for questioning. She admitted to driving the Jeep that night but said she had been paid to act as a getaway driver. She said she did not know the victim and did not fire the weapon. Cortes told detectives she had been recruited by Brenda Delgado, who had offered her money to help carry out a plan she described only as “scaring” someone.
Cortes provided the name of the man she said had been the shooter: Kristopher Love.
The link to Brenda Delgado
Brenda Delgado was Ricky Paniagua’s former girlfriend. The two had dated for more than two years before breaking up in early 2015. Paniagua began seeing Kendra Hatcher shortly after. Friends and coworkers later described Delgado as unable to accept the breakup.
Investigators reviewed phone records and text messages. They found repeated contact between Delgado and Cortes in the days leading up to the murder. Delgado had also been in communication with Kristopher Love. Cell tower data placed both Cortes and Love near Hatcher’s apartment complex on the night of the killing. Delgado’s phone pinged near the area as well.
Detectives concluded that Delgado had orchestrated the murder as retaliation for losing Paniagua. They alleged that she recruited Cortes to drive and Love to pull the trigger, offering them money in exchange.
The arrests and the fugitive
Crystal Cortes was arrested on September 8, 2015, less than a week after the killing. Kristopher Love was arrested the following day. Both were charged with capital murder.
Brenda Delgado was not immediately taken into custody. By the time investigators sought her arrest, she had fled. On September 11, 2015, a warrant was issued. Delgado was believed to have crossed into Mexico.
For months, her whereabouts were unknown. The FBI placed her on its Ten Most Wanted list in April 2016, offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to her capture. In June 2016, she was arrested in Torreon, Mexico, after a tip. She was extradited to Texas and charged with capital murder.
The trials and testimony
Crystal Cortes agreed to a plea deal. In exchange for her testimony against Love and Delgado, she pleaded guilty to murder and received a 35-year sentence. She testified that Delgado had told her the plan was to kill Hatcher and that she had been promised several thousand dollars.
Kristopher Love was tried in 2017. Prosecutors argued that he had accepted payment to carry out the killing and that he fired the single gunshot that killed Hatcher. Cortes testified against him. Love’s defense argued that the evidence was circumstantial and that Cortes was an unreliable witness trying to lessen her own sentence. The jury convicted Love of capital murder. He was sentenced to death.
Brenda Delgado’s trial took place in 2019. Prosecutors presented phone records, witness testimony, and evidence that she had discussed hiring someone to harm Hatcher in the weeks before the murder. Cortes again testified, describing Delgado as the mastermind. Delgado’s defense did not dispute that she had been jealous or angry, but argued that the state had not proven beyond reasonable doubt that she had ordered the killing. The jury convicted her of capital murder. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty. She was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The unanswered questions
Despite three convictions, aspects of the case remain disputed. Love has maintained his innocence and continues to appeal his death sentence, arguing that Cortes’s testimony was the product of coercion and plea negotiations. His legal team has pointed to inconsistencies in her account and the absence of physical evidence tying him to the scene.
Delgado has not publicly confessed. Her trial hinged largely on circumstantial evidence and the testimony of cooperating witnesses. Legal observers have noted that the case demonstrates the challenges of proving conspiracy when the alleged orchestrator is not present at the scene and leaves no direct trail.
Questions remain about whether all the details of the plot have been revealed. Some investigators and family members have expressed lingering doubts about whether others were involved or whether financial or personal motives beyond jealousy played a role.
Where to look next
- Documentary: “In Pursuit with John Walsh” (Investigation Discovery)
- Podcast: “Murder in the First” (Wondery)
- Book: “Jealousy” by Gregg Olsen
