DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - After less than 20-minutes of deliberating a Dallas County jury has convicted Brenda Delgado of capital murder in the assassination of Kendra Hatcher.
The sentence is automatic, life without parole.
Over four days of testimony, prosecutors painted Delgado as a woman bent on revenge against her romantic rival. At the time of her death, Hatcher was dating Delgado's former boyfriend, Ricardo Paniagua.
The prosecution rested its case Thursday after calling a medical examiner who said Hatcher was shot from behind. The jury also heard the remainder of a police interview with Delgado, who was heard uttering an expletive after the detective finished and left the room.
Delgado's defense team called a single witness - a cell phone expert who took the stand to counter the state's key witness, Crystal Cortes. Delgado did not testify.
Cortes, who served as the getaway driver in the dentist's killing, got a 35-year prison sentence for testifying against Delgado and against Kristopher Love, who fired the fatal shots. In October 2018, Love was convicted and sentenced to death.
Earlier in the week, Cortes told the jury Delgado hired her and Love to carry out Hatcher's murder. Cortes testified Delgado gave her $500, while Love was compensated with money and drugs.
Delgado left the country after Hatcher's killing, and was arrested in Mexico in 2016.