Kendra Hatcher was born in a small town outside of Chicago Illinois from a young age she exhibited a nurturing and caring nature her parents instilled in her the importance of helping others in making a difference during college Kendra developed a passion for dentistry and decided to focus on podiatrics her ability to connect with young people made her a Natural Choice as a podiatric dentist She was drawn to working with children and helping them improve their oral health in 2015 at just 35 years old Kendra landed her dream job at a dental practice in Dallas Texas in a low-income Community this dental office was dedicated to community outreach in ensuring the residents of the area had the best care with a passion for helping Kendra quickly established a rapport with her patients Kendra was an eligible Bachelorette so it came as no surprise that she quickly captured the heart of DrRicardo Ricky penaga a Dermatology resident Ricky originally hailing from California fell hard for Kendra and she reciprocated his feelings with only four months of dating their connection was so strong that they began discussing moving in together and planning a wedding Those Who Loved Kendra were thrilled for her they hadn't seen her this excited in a long time life seemed to be on an upward trend for Kendra ever since she moved to Dallas at the start of the year in September Kendra and Ricky had planned a romantic Beach getaway to Cancun however this would never come to pass little did Kendra know that her happiness would be shortlived on September 2nd 2015 Kendra was driving home from her job as a receptionist at a local hospital while on her way she was engaged in a text message conversation with Ricky who was waiting at her apartment they were excitedly discussing their upcoming trip to canun scheduled for the following day Ricky told Kendra that he was going out to grab a bite to eat and asked her to let him know when she arrived home around the same time hasham a young man living in the same apartment complex as Kendra was walking to his car in the parking garage with his friend as they approached the parking area he heard a commotion that echoed through the floor hasham and his friend paused for a moment startled by the intense sound of screaming and a series of Pop noises that sounded like gunshots suddenly a black Jeep Cherokee screeched past hasham shocking him and his friend scared hasham and his friend got into their car and followed the Jeep out of the parking garage as they exited the garage hasham noticed a body lying on the ground next to a white Toyota Camry when hasham made to the street he pulled over and called 911 and told them he saw a woman lying on the ground with blood coming from her neck police officers and paramedics arrived at the scene to find the woman already dead after carefully surveying the area officers ran the victim's vehicle number and discovered it belonged to DrKendra Hatcher officers retrieved Kendra's driver's license photo from the database to confirm the victim's identity the resemblance was undeniable and the officers concluded that Kendra was the victim as the parking lot was designated as the crime scene Ricky who had been incessantly texting and phoning Kendra but receiving no response rapidly grew concerned one of the homicide detectives approached him Ricky identified himself as Kendra's boyfriend the detective then informed Ricky that Kendra had tragically passed away initially Ricky's reaction seemed to the detective to be genuine however because he was Kendra's boyfriend and was present at the scene of the crime he had no choice but to investigate further and determine his involvement Ricky was taken into custody and brought to the nearby police station for questioning meanwhile a team of crime scene investigators arrived on the scene in the parking garage to begin their examination of the body and gather evidence upon their arrival they quickly noticed that Kendra had been shot through the upper part of the back of her head and exited through her chin Additionally the presence of gunshot residue on Kendra's hands suggested the possibility that she had her hands positioned behind her head at the time of the incident based on the evidence found at the crime scene the detectives believed that whoever shot Kendra was standing over her and executed her investigators also found a shell Cas casing from a 40 caliber weapon at the crime scene investigators stumbled upon a magazine from a handgun this discovery led the detectives to believe that the shooter in a moment of haste may have accidentally hit the release on the gun causing the magazine to pop out upon examination it was found that the magazine did not contain any DNA or prints that could help identify a suspect the crime scene provided several crucial Clues but one item stood out Kendra's purse was missing this absence LED detectives to believe that the motivation behind her murder may have been a robbery gone wrong with security cameras in various parking garage areas the detective sought access to the footage from the apartment complex management as the detectives waited for the CCTV footage to be reviewed they interviewed Ricky at the police station throughout the interview Ricky appeared shocked and disoriented despite the lack of evidence suggesting Ricky's involvement in Kendra shooting the detectives couldn't rule him out as a suspect however at the end of the interview detectives released Ricky as they did not have sufficient evidence to charge him when the security camera footage from the garage came in the detectives were confronted with a series of chilling events the video showed that at 7:15 p. m. on September 2nd a black Jeep Cherokee followed a resident through the parking garage and parked in a spot about 20 minutes later at 7:42 p.
m. a white Toyota Camry pulled into the garage as Kendra pulled into her designated parking spot the suspect left the Jeep and walked out of frame heading in the direction of Kendra's car the Jeep abruptly reversed and the suspect walked back into the vehicle entering the passenger side then the Jeep sped out of the parking garage because the footage was grainy the detectives could not make out any features on the shooter or the license plate number on the Jeep however one crucial piece of information came to light during the review of the security camera footage the Jeep driver a woman was seen on on one of the cameras as she exited the parking garage one of the detectives took a still image of the woman's face and released a widely publicized picture this Photograph was paired with a picture of the black Jeep Cherokee 2 days after Kendra's death Jose Ortez contacted the police and said he wanted to speak to the detectives working on the case Jose agreed to meet with the detectives at the police station during their meeting Jose informed the detectives that the Jeep scene on the news belonged to him he recognized the unique characteristics of the vehicle such as the customized rims and bumper trim which made him confident that it was indeed his car however Jose denied any involvement in the crime he expressed a strong desire to clear his name and stated that he had loaned his Jeep to his friend Brenda Delgado on September 2nd Jose claimed that there was no way Brenda was the driver of the vehicle because at the time of Kendra's murder he and Brenda had been eating dinner at Chili's Jose revealed that Brenda had threatened him after he confronted her about the fact that his Jeep which he had let her use had been on the news and involved in a crime Brenda had told him to leave the police out of the issue or else there might be need for authorities to question his immigration status furthermore Brenda had offered to pay for the Jeep to be painted so it didn't match the car the police were looking for this Revelation piqued the detectives interest as they became increasingly convinced that Brenda may have valuable information about Kendra's murder that same day September 4th the detectives called Brenda Delgado and asked her to come to the police department for an interview to learn more about her through this search they discovered that Brenda had immigrated from Mexico to Dallas as a little girl Those Who Knew Brenda described her as quiet and reserved yet they always noticed an upbeat energy about her at the time of the murder Brenda was 33 years old and was diligently working towards obtaining her certification as a dental hygienist her professors at the dental hygienist school spoke highly of her and praised her ambition and drive they believed she had great potential and a bright future in the field when asked if she knew the victim Brenda denied having any knowledge of who Kendra was furthermore she claimed to have spent the evening of September 2nd with her boyfriend Jose at Chile restaurant to support her Alibi Brenda presented the detectives with a receipt from Chile's as proof of her whereabouts that night however the detectives found certain aspects of Brenda's story suspicious the fact that Brenda had the receipt from the dinner two nights earlier raised a red flag they believed it was unusual for someone to have such an old receipt readily available Brenda inquired as to why her name had surfaced as a potential suspect the detectives replied that Jose Ortez had come forward and stated that Brenda had borrowed his Jeep however according to Brenda her friend Crystal Cortez had borrowed the Jeep not her she provided the detective with Crystal's phone number and suggested they call her in for an interview during the investigation Crystal Cortez was interviewed in the interrogation room and Brenda Delgado was in the other Crystal admitted to driving the black Jeep cherry seen on the CCTV footage on the day and time of Kendra's murder she stated that she and her son wanted to go to the park and on their way there a man suddenly jumped into the back seat of the Jeep Crystal recalled how the man pulled a gun out and pointed it directly at her head terrified for herself and her child she begged the man not to harm them however her pleas were brushed aside the man ordered Crystal to drive threatening her if she did not comply with the gun still held to her head Crystal reluctantly followed the man's instructions s complying with his demands they made their way to the apartment parking garage where Crystal tailgated a resident's car and entered a little after 7:00 p. m.
