The Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas upheld the murder-for-hire conviction of Brenda Delgado, who was sentenced to life in prison for her role in the murder of 35-year-old pediatric dentist Kendra Hatcher.
Delgado, 39, was convicted in June 2019 for the murder-for-hire of Hatcher, who was shot in the parking garage of her apartment building on Sept. 2, 2015.
During Delgado’s trial, Dallas County prosecutors said she hired Crystal Cortes and Kristopher Love to kill Hatcher.
Dallas police said that Hatcher had been dating Delgado’s ex-boyfriend, which made the 39-year-old jealous. Delgado then hired Cortes and Love to kill Hatcher with the intention of making the murder look like a botched robbery. Police added that Delgado waited in Carrollton while Cortes and Love committed the murder.
Kristopher Love, who pulled the trigger on Hatcher, received a death sentence, while Crystal Cortes, who acted as the getaway driver, made a plea deal with prosecutors. Cortes agreed to plead guilty and testify against Love and Delgado. In exchange for her plea and testimony, Cortes was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
According to Cortes’ testimony, Delgado paid her $500 to be the getaway driver. She also testified that Delgado paid Love in cash and drugs to shoot Hatcher.
Witnesses at Delgado’s trial testified that she was not happy about Paniagua’s relationship with Hatcher and that she kept pictures of the couple on her phone.
Cellphone analysts also revealed that Delgado had been tracking Paniagua’s iPhone location, and she had screenshots of his text messages and images of his emails.
After Hatchers’ murder, Delgado fled to Mexico, where she was arrested in 2016. Delgado would have gotten the death penalty but Mexican authorities ensured it was not an option in their agreement for her extradition.
