The United States Supreme Court has upheld the capital murder conviction and death sentence for the man who killed an Uptown Dallas dentist.
Kristopher Love was paid to kill Doctor Kendra Hatcher in September, 2015 by Brenda Delgado, the jilted ex-lover of Ricardo Paniagua, the man whom Hatcher was dating. Paniagua had no knowledge that be was still being pursed by Delgado, he testified.
There was no evidence that Delgado and Hatcher had ever met.
In his appeal, Love claimed that one of the jurors in his 2018 trial should have been dismissed because of racial prejudice. The case was dismissed without the Supreme Court granting certiorari. Three justices dissented.
"The seating of a racially biased juror, therefore, can never be harmless. As with other forms of disqualifying bias, if even one racially biased juror is empaneled and the death penalty is imposed, "the State is disentitled to execute the sentence," wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor. She was joined in her dissent by Justices Elena Kagen and Stephen Breyer.
The case will be sent back to the trial court where a death sentence date will be set.
Delgado hired Love and friend Crystal Cortes to carry out an elaborate scheme to murder Hatcher in the garage of her Uptown Dallas apartment complex. Testimony in Love’s trial showed that Cortes convinced a friend to lend her a jeep. Cortes drove Love to the apartment complex where the two waited in the garage until Hatcher returned home to pack for an upcoming trip.
Love confronted Hatcher as she was getting out of her car, shooting her in the head before fleeing. Cortes, at one point, drove the wrong way, going deeper into the garage. She turned the Jeep around and fled.
Security cameras recorded images of the Jeep and pictures broadcast on the news were seen by the jeep’s owner, who recognized the distinctive paint markings and called police.
In the days following the murder, Delgado fled to Mexico where she hid until police were able to track her down and make an arrest. Mexico only agreed to extradite Delgado if Dallas County agreed not to seek the death penalty against her. Mexico has taken a stand against death sentences.
Prosecutors were under no such restriction when Love came to trial. Testimony showed Love was promised drugs and money for the murder. Police found the murder weapon hidden in the center console in Love’s car. The jury convicted Love of murder, then listened to testimony in a sentencing hearing
At one point during the sentencing hearing, Love became upset when his sister began testifying, kicked his chair and tried to storm out of the courtroom. He was quickly subdued. The jury answered special issue questions that led to the imposition of the death sentence.
Following the sentencing hearing, Love was forced to listen to the emotional victim impact state of Hatcher’s mother, Bonnie Jameson.
"Your life, mister executioner, will end peacefully," Jameson said. "Unlike my daughter’s, Doctor Hatcher. You chose to end her life. And for what?"
In a separate trial, Delgado was also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life without parole. Cortes pleaded guilty and is serving a 35-year prison term.
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