A murder mystery is playing out in north Texas, where detectives are trying to determine a motive in the slaying of a children's dentist.
Kendra Hatcher, 35, had no known enemies, but on Sept. 2, she was gunned down in the parking garage of her upscale Dallas apartment building.
Two days later, Crystal Cortes, a 23-year-old dental assistant, allegedly confessed to driving the getaway vehicle, police said. But Cortes claims that she did not know Hatcher, and police have yet to reveal how she knew the person who pulled the trigger.
"She admitted that she conspired with an unnamed individual," Dallas police said in a press release.
Cortes allegedly told detectives that a yet to be identified person paid her $500 to drive her male accomplice to the parking garage of Hatcher's apartment building on the day of her slaying. Cortes said she was told the man was going to rob Hatcher, police said.
Hatcher's aunt, Lisa Sato, told NBC News that this story just doesn't add up.
"Robbers don't walk up and shoot somebody first and then grab their stuff," she said. "That's just not the way robberies happen. There was just no reason for a robber to kill her, to get whatever it was they took."
Crystal Cortes has allegedly confessed to her role in the slaying of Kendra Hatcher.
Last week, Hatcher's family said they suspected an ex-boyfriend is connected to her slaying, The State Journal-Register reported. Authorities have yet to comment on a possible motive.
Police identified Cortes as a possible suspect when they released grainy surveillance video from the parking garage that showed a Jeep Cherokee following Hatcher to her parking space.
A child allegedly witnessed what happened next.
"My son, he was telling me that a black Jeep Cherokee drove by [and] a guy with a mask put a bullet in her and just drove off," the boy's father, who did not wish to be identified, told WFAA.com.
Cortes told investigators the gunman stole several items from Hatcher after he shot her, according to the arrest affidavit.
Hatcher died at the scene. Her body was found next to her vehicle.
On Sept. 4, an unnamed individual contacted detectives and told them he recognized the vehicle in the surveillance video as his own. The witness, police said, told them his vehicle had been lent to Cortes prior to Hatcher's slaying.
Cortes voluntarily went to the Dallas Police Department on Friday, at which time she allegedly confessed to her role in Hatcher's slaying. Cortes also allegedly provided "information that other unidentified suspects may have been involved," police said.
Police have yet to say whether Cortes knew Hatcher. Authorities have also not named any other suspects or persons of interest in the case.
Cortes' brother, Rudy Aguilar, described his sister to local news channel CBS 11 as a loving mother. "This has just been a shock to the whole family."
He also said he believes his sister's role in Hatcher's slaying was minimal.
"You know she didn't rob anybody," he said. "She was just the driver. I don't know if she knows what she was doing or if she got threatened to do it."
Cortes has been charged with capital murder. She is being held in the Dallas County Jail in lieu of a $500,000 bond. Jail records do not list an attorney for her.
Sato told NBC the family hopes to soon have answers in her niece's slaying.
"You know somebody did this and you can't get past that until you know who and why they did it," she said.
The Dallas Police Department is asking anyone with information on the case to contact its homicide unit at (214) 283-4818.
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