Naman Shrestha
In NBC’s ‘Dateline: 10 Minutes to Sunset’ and Investigation Discovery’s ‘Mean Girl Murders: Hot Yoga & Cold Blood,’ the focus is on the murder-for-hire killing of Kendra Hatcher. Being a loved and popular member of the community, her death sent shockwaves across the entire city. The detectives moved heaven and earth to get to the bottom of the case, leading them to Crystal Cortes and Kristopher Love, who were hired by Brenda Delgado to kill the pediatric dentist. As they questioned Crystal and Kristopher, some chilling details about the murder plot surfaced.
Crystal Cortes and Kristopher Love Were Hired by Brenda Delgado to Kill Kendra Hatcher
On September 2, 2015, 35-year-old pediatric dentist, Kendra Hatcher, returned home from work and was parking her car in the garage of her luxurious Dallas, Texas, apartment building when she was shot to death by Kristopher Love, who escaped the scene of the crime in a black Jeep driven by Crystal Cortes. The surveillance footage of the parking garage turned out to be critical in tying the two accomplices to the crime. Upon investigation, the detectives learned that they were hired by Brenda Delgado, the mastermind behind the murder. At the time, Kendra was dating a dermatologist named Ricardo “Ricky” Paniagua, who was the ex-boyfriend of Brenda.
As Kendra and Ricky started growing closer and made plans for their wedding, the ringleader became obsessed and cyberstalked them. In order to carry out the killing of her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend, she offered Crystal $500 and Kristopher drugs and money. A few days after the murder, the investigators brought Crystal, who was a 23-year-old single mother at the time, in for questioning. Initially, she weaved a false narrative and claimed that she was with her son in the black Jeep on the fateful day when an armed man carjacked her and instructed her to drive to the Gables Park 17 building, where he shot Kendra. As the authorities had already seen the surveillance footage, they confronted her about the inconsistencies in her story, after which she changed her story.
Claiming that she was hired by Brenda for a robbery, Crystal told the detectives that she was shocked to hear the gunshot and lied about the gunman’s name being Lamar, when it was Kristopher Love. After the interview, she was arrested and charged with capital murder. Through other sources, including his car, the authorities were led to Kristopher. Since he had an outstanding warrant against his name, they were able to arrest and interrogate him about his connection with Kendra’s murder on September 30. While searching his car, they found an incriminating piece of evidence in the form of the murder weapon. Although he claimed that Crystal landed the fatal shot to Kendra’s head, he was arrested and charged with capital murder as well.
While Kristopher Love is on Death Row, Crystal Cortes is Incarcerated at a Texas Prison Facility
In order to avoid the death penalty, she agreed to testify against Brenda Delgado and Kristopher Love in their respective trials and pleaded guilty to the charges against her. In October 2018, Krisistopher stood trial for killing Kendra. During the trial, Crystal took the stand for about two hours, during which she told the jurors about the murder plot in detail and how the defendant considered multiple options to kill the dentist. She testified, “Inject her with a needle, another plan was to shoot her directly, and another plan was to kidnap her.” She added, “…it was planned to be a murder to look like a robbery gone bad.”
Recounting the fateful day, she also claimed that after the murder, she drove to an abandoned house in Pleasant Grove, Texas, and wiped down the Jeep’s seats with the borrowed Jeep. The defense emphasized the fact that Crystal had lied to the authorities multiple times and had “never told the same story twice.” On October 31, 2018, after three hours of deliberation, the jury found Kristopher Love guilty of capital murder and sentenced him to death by lethal injection for his crimes. Crystal also served as the star witness of the prosecution during Brenda’s trial in June 2019.
During that trial, she testified how the defendant used to stalk Ricardo Paniagua and Kendra and keep up with their whereabouts. After helping the prosecution convict Kristopher and Brenda, Crystal was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the lesser charge of murder. A few years later, Kristopher Love appealed to get his conviction overturned, claiming that one of the jurors was racially biased. However, on April 18, 2022, his appeal was denied by the US Supreme Court. As of today, Crystal is serving her sentence at the Christina Melton Crain Unit in Gatesville, Texas, with her parole eligibility date scheduled for March 2033. Meanwhile, Kristopher is held up at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas, while awaiting the death penalty.
Read More: Where is Brenda Delgado Now?
