Who was Kendra Hatcher and what happened to her?
A MURDER investigation transpired when a dentist was shot dead by a then-unknown assailant.
As police probed the matter further, they found not just one but three people responsible for Kendra Hatcher's death.
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Who was Kendra Hatcher?
Born on February 3, 1980, the late Kendra Hatcher was a 35-year-old pediatric dentist from Springfield, Illinois.
Following her first divorce in 2010, Kendra moved to Dallas, Texas, and began working at a dental office named Smile Zone.
On May 24, 2015, she started dating a physician named Ricky Paniagua.
Kendra and Ricky remained together until the former's death.
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Her obituary remembers her love for "traveling, working with children, and her family, especially her nieces and nephews."
The young woman's loved ones also list her passions for "performing philanthropic work in Spain and Ecuador, Bikram yoga, living an active lifestyle, shopping, and running."
What happened to Kendra?
On September 2, 2015, Kendra was pronounced dead after she was shot in the back of the head by a mystery murderer.
The tragic incident occurred on a Wednesday night, the night before she and Ricky were scheduled to go on vacation to Cancun, Mexico.
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At the crime scene, the deceased woman's purse and belongings were stolen.
Initially, this led law enforcement to believe the ordeal was a robbery gone wrong.
Surveillance cameras captured the Jeep belonging to the shooter as they drove away from the Gables Park 17 apartment complex where the victim lived.
Two days later on Friday, September 4, a man named Jose Luis-Ortiz contacted police to let them know the Jeep was his.
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However, he was not the killer in question, and he confessed that his friend Brenda Delgado asked to borrow his vehicle that Wednesday.
Coincidentally, Brenda was also the ex-girlfriend of Kendra's boyfriend Ricky.
Brenda and Ricky dated from 2012 to 2015 and the former stalked him and Kendra after their relationship fizzled out.
Eventually, authorities solved Kendra's homicide and named Brenda and her two conspirators Kristopher Love and Crystal Cortes as the killers.
Love was the one who shot Kendra, while Cortes was the getaway driver.
On October 31, 2018, Love was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection.
On June 7, 2019, Brenda was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
For her part in the homicide, Cortes was sentenced to 35 years behind bars.
How can I watch Kendra's Dateline episode?
The late Kendra's tragic end is retold in an episode of Dateline NBC titled 10 Minutes to Sunset.
In 10 Minutes to Sunset, investigators and those close to the victim's homicide case give their accounts of what happened to anchor Keith Morrison.
Previously, the episode was broadcasted on November 13, 2020.
On December 16, 2022, the episode was broadcasted again that Friday at 9pm EST.
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For those that missed the special's cable airdates, there are streaming options available.
Audiences that miss the initial airing can check out Kendra's episode through Hulu or Peacock.
