Police make arrest in killing of Dallas dentist
DALLAS -- Dallas police announced the arrest early Saturday of a 22-year-old woman in the killing of dentist Dr. Kendra Hatcher, CBS DFW reports.
Crystal Cortez was charged with capital murder and was being held on a $250,000 bond.
"Arrestee Crystal has admitted her involvement in the murder and has given detectives information that other unidentified suspects may have been involved," Senior Cpl. Melinda Gutierrez said.
An arrest warrant affidavit released by Dallas police indicates a person contacted an officer after seeing pictures of his Jeep Cherokee on local news reports in relation to the killing.
That person told detectives he had loaned the vehicle to Cortez. The suspect voluntarily came to DPD Headquarters and talked with detectives.
"During her interview, she admitted that she conspired with an unnamed individual for $500 to drive an unknown male suspect ... and commit the offense of robbery," the warrant said.
It goes on to say the unknown male suspect shot Hatcher and took several items from her.
A neighbor who didn't want to be identified recalled what he saw and heard the night Hatcher, 35, was shot dead inside her parking garage at the Gables Park 17 apartments.
The man said when he heard the gun go off he was headed for the elevators and thought someone had either dropped something heavy or slammed a door.
"I heard the shot, I didn't think much of it," he said.
It wasn't until his son, who was also in the garage, called frantically that he confirmed something horrible had just happened.
"He told me a lady just got shot in our parking lot," he said.
The neighbor rushed back down and saw Hatcher, still wearing her black scrubs, laying near her car.
"She was not breathing so we figured ... we backed off and waited for the cops," he said.
Once police arrived, he said they described seeing the black Jeep Cherokee. The arrest warrant affidavit identifies Cortez as the driver of that SUV.