Here’s the “Beefed Up Security” at Gables Park 17 After Kendra Hatcher Was Gunned Down
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Dallas police have arrested and have in custody a suspect in the murder of Kendra Hatcher, who was shot in her parking garage at the Gables Park 17 Wednesday evening.
Dental assistant Crystal Cortes of Dallas is being held on a capital murder charge. She apparently told investigators she was the one who drove Kendra Hatcher’s killer to the Gables Park 17 parking garage on Wednesday. If you look closely at the police photos, you can see the driver’s face looks like that of a woman.
But Dallas Police have not said a word about whether Cortes knew the victim, where the killer might be, or who he is.
What’s important here is this: Cortes told detectives that robbery was the motive for the murder. She admitted someone paid her $500 to drive the gunman to kill Hatcher.
Although surveillance images released last week show only a driver in the Jeep, police said they corroborated Cortes’ account with witnesses and video evidence.
The Jeep followed another vehicle into the garage and waited, according to an affidavit. Later, after Hatcher pulled into a parking space, a man got out of the Jeep and shot her. As she lay dying beside her car, the man took some of her belongings.
This is important, because in the wake of this crime, many believed this shooting was isolated and minimized the need for additional security in a luxury building with a long list of security breaches.
There is a young security guard now on duty at the Gables Park 17. He is a young man, he is not carrying a gun, though he is licensed to carry. He is concerned about the residence, tenants tell me, though the security company he works for never told him a murder had taken place in the parking garage. He learned about it from the tenants.
His company initially thought the murder of Dr. was likely calculated and therefore he doesn’t need protection.
After Kendra’s murder, Gables management company kept nervous building tenants informed of “the incident” this way:
From: “Kimberly Waller” <[email protected]>
Date: September 3, 2015 at 4:45:08 PM CDT
To:
Subject: News Update
Reply-To: [email protected]
Notification from: Park 17 (Gables Park Seventeen)
Dear Residents,
Please see News update regarding the incident from last night.
Park 17 Management Team
And then when residents asked about extra security…
Notification from: Park 17 (Gables Park Seventeen)
Dear Resident,
We wanted to share that we currently have no further information regarding the incident. The police are still conducting an investigation. We have received a couple of inquiries regarding additional security and we have added additional 24-hour security to the garage at this time. In addition, Granite (the office mgmt. group), has added 24-hour security covering the shared garage via golf cart.
We want to thank you for your support during all of this. As a community, we have expressed our condolences to the victim’s family and our prayers are with them during this very tough time.
Sincerely,
Park 17 Management Team
This is the trusty young man now keeping that building safe.
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Very sad incident, especially that the apparent motive was simply to rob someone (not that any motive for murder is justified). Hopefully the actual murderer is captured soon.
That said, I’m surprised at how far we’ve come with technology these days, however, automated entry gates feel like they’re in the Stone-Age. At the very least, the gate should be able to sound an alarm or alert someone when a car enters that does not have a proper authorization. Doesn’t seem like it would be that hard to do.
LIKE! All you need is stickers on the car like tolltags.
Candy, I lived at Park 17 for a year after I sold my Turtle Creek home to regroup.
I was very disappointed in the Gables Management. It is an expensive building and I sometimes it felt like I was living in some kind of low income housing the way Gables handled complaints and security…. And especially how they handled the noise and partying of a lot of the tenants. They also share a parking garage with the office building so this was a problem. The common area , pool and gym was shared with the office building as well. With all this you never had a sense of who belonged in the building or who didn’t. Also there is a restraunt there with valet parking, so lots of confusion.
I think this is the new paradigm for buildings. They take office/and apartment and enertetainment/ restraunt in a rectangular space and share parking and amenities. Which is great… Just need lots of protection and security. Strange…When I lived there a young woman fell or jumped of her balcony, I believe was New Years Eve.
All this is a shame because it’s a beautiful building in a great location. And possibly one of the coolest pools.
This blog’s got more irrational muckraking about crime than NBC5 on a slow news night.
Your smoking gun about lax security are a few burglaries? Those happen everywhere. Preston Hollow, Frisco, Plano… The murder was an isolated, tragic incident. There’s not really anything the management company can do.
So we accept that as the norm? That you cannot leave your car without the third seat being stolen or the wheels removed? Hell, why have cars? Why buy jewelry if we just let the thugs take it and accept it as “crime is everywhere”? This murder may very well be an isolated, tragic incident, and I may be over reacting from my own personal loss, but if I had a kid living there I would want some answers from Gables. When a woman was mugged and beaten at the Renaissance, they had armed off duty DPS on the site right after.
I tend to agree with ARaw. It seems quite obvious that this was some kind of hit. Otherwise why would someone pay someone else $500 to take them to that specific location with the idea of performing a simple robbery? That being said, what real difference would an unarmed guard make to prevent that type of situation from happening again? Crime, no matter how heinous, happens and to single out Gables 17, seems a bit over reactive. I do wonder why a real estate blog even opines on stories such as this?
Real Estate is about where people live, and safety is part of the equation, just like schools and education. Perhaps armed guards would not have stopped this very heinous crime, but there have been a lot of reports of property theft at that property. And I have not talked to one resident who feels safe there.
And: https://candysdirt.com/2015/09/01/murders-dallas-17-last-year/