Los Angeles

Wife of Slain Bell Gardens Mayor Sentenced to 3 Months in Jail

A judge Friday certified a plea agreement and sentenced the wife of slain Bell Gardens Mayor Daniel Crespo, who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for shooting him, to three months in county jail and five years of formal probation.

Lyvette Crespo, 45, must also perform 500 hours of community service and complete a one-year anger management course.

She was given two days credit for time served, and taken into custody immediately.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy reviewed a probation report before deciding to go forward with the plea agreement reached in November between the District Attorney's Office and Crespo, who shot Daniel Crespo Sr. three times in the chest on Sept. 30, 2014.

If the judge had not agreed to go along with the plea bargain, Crespo would have had the option of withdrawing her guilty plea.

One of the woman's attorneys told the judge in November that she wanted to plead no contest, but Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman insisted on a guilty plea and Crespo eventually acquiesced after speaking with her lawyers.

Crespo's attorneys have claimed that she shot and killed her 45-year-old husband at their home in self-defense after enduring years of abuse at his hands.

Their son, Daniel Jr., reiterated that claim when he spoke at his mother's sentencing. He said that she was a victim of domestic violence, as were he and his sister.

But the victim's brother called it a planned killing and walked out of the courtroom as judge started to impose the sentence.

Crespo was indicted in April 2015 on the voluntary manslaughter charge.

Los Angeles County sheriff's investigators said the mayor and his wife were arguing when their then-19-year-old son, intervened, leading to a struggle between father and son.

Lyvette Crespo claims she was protecting her son when she grabbed a handgun and shot her husband, who had punched the young man in the face.

William Crespo has denied allegations that his brother was abusive, but said the mayor had a series of extramarital affairs that angered his wife.

A civil lawsuit filed Oct. 20, 2014, by Daniel Crespo's mother alleges her daughter-in-law picked a fight with him knowing that their son would intervene, then opened a safe, grabbed a gun and killed her husband "with malice and in cold blood."

Copyright CNS - City News Service
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