Wife of slain Calif. mayor indicted on voluntary manslaughter charge
LOS ANGELES - The wife of slain Bell Gardens, Calif. Mayor Daniel Crespo has been indicted on a charge of voluntary manslaughter in connection with his death.
Lyvette Crespo, 43, was indicted by a grand jury Thursday and was ordered held on $150,000 bail at a subsequent arraignment, where she pleaded not guilty.
She is accused of shooting her husband, 45-year-old Daniel Crespo, three times in the chest at their Bell Gardens home on September 30, 2014, killing him. The indictment alleges she "unlawfully and without malice" killed her husband "upon a sudden quarrel and heat of passion."
The indictment also includes an allegation that she personally discharged a handgun.
If convicted, she faces up to 21 years in prison.
Authorities have said the shooting took place during an argument between the couple. Their 19-year-old son, Daniel Crespo Jr., tried to intervene and the elder Crespo got into a struggle with him, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Crystal Hernandez said at the time.
That's when Lyvette Crespo grabbed a gun and shot her husband several times, Hernandez said.
In a 911 call placed after the shooting, Daniel Crespo Jr. is heard telling a police dispatcher that his father had hurt him and was lying on the floor dying after his mother shot him.
He said it wasn't his mother's fault, adding, "She was defending herself."
Both Lyvette Crespo and Daniel Crespo Jr. were taken in for questioning after the incident, but no charges were filed.
In the weeks after the shooting, Eber Bayona, an attorney for Lyvette Crespo, as well as other family members, said she was a victim of domestic violence for many years; William Crespo, the mayor's brother, said the allegations were a lie.
CBS Los Angeles reported William Crespo said he believed the killing was the result of an argument over his brother's infidelities.
In October 2014, Daniel Crespo's mother, Otila Santos, filed a $53 million wrongful death lawsuit against Lyvette Crespo, arguing she shot Daniel Crespo "with malice and in cold blood."
The lawsuit alleged Lyvette Crespo picked a fight with her husband knowing their son would intervene.
Lyvette Crespo is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on May 29.
