DEADLY DISPUTE

Wife Says She Shot Mayor to Protect Son

In Bell Gardens, California.

The wife of Bell Gardens mayor Daniel Crespo told law enforcement authorities on Wednesday that she shot her husband to stop him from beating their 19-year-old son. Police say Daniel Crespo Jr. intervened during a fight between his parents on Tuesday, which subsequently escalated into an altercation between him and his father. Crespo Jr. has been hospitalized for injuries to his face. Both Levette and her son were released Tuesday after being questioned by police. Country prosecuters will decide whether to press charges but "favorable statements from the kid really make building an otherwise un-witnessed case really hard to make," a source close to the case told the Los Angles Times. Police have not yet indicated a motive for the shooting, but money may have been a factor. According to Daniel Crespo’s brother, before the shooting, he told him on the phone, “She’s over here fighting that I spend too much money.”