Alleged 'hitman' charged in Dallas dentist murder-for-hire case

Dr Kendra Hatcher was gunned down in the parking lot of her Dallas apartment building Kendra Hatcher: Facebook

Police in Dallas, Texas, have arrested a man for shooting a dentist in a deadly ambush last month. Kristopher Love, 31, is charged with murder and is being held on a $2.5m (£1.65m) bond. He also faces a separate charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

Dr Kendra Hatcher, 35, was fatally shot on 2 September. Police found a suspected murder weapon when they searched Love's home.

During a press conference held yesterday evening (2 October) Dallas Police chief Max Geron said that investigators believe that Love had been hired to kill Hatcher. He said that Love's alleged accomplice, 33-year-old Brenda Delgado, would also face a murder charge and is a fugitive.

Hatcher, a well-known dentist in the Dallas area, had started a relationship with Delgado's ex-boyfriend Ricardo Paniagua. Police believe that Delgado hired Love to murder Hatcher, and paid her friend Crystal Cortes, 23, $500 to drive him to the scene of the alleged murder. Cortes has already admitted to her part in the crime and is now awaiting trial.

Jose Ortiz told police that his 1996 Jeep Cherokee was the vehicle shown at the scene of the murder in a TV news report days after the attack. He told officers that he had loaned the car to Delgado and that she had let Cortes drive it.

Cortes confessed to police that the alleged hitman was of African-American descent and he had not told her that he was going to shoot Hatcher. She has a six-year-old son and is known to have befriended Delgado in August this year.

An official statement released by Dallas police last night said: "Tonight, we announce the arrest of Kristopher Love… as the person we have identified as having shot Dr Hatcher. He has been charged with capital murder and a federal charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and is currently in the Dallas County Jail on a $2.5 million bond.

"When Mr. Love was arrested, he was found in possession of the weapon believed to have been used to kill Dr. Hatcher. Additionally, we have secured a warrant for the arrest of Brenda Delgado… also for the charge of capital murder for her involvement in the offence."