Bell Gardens, California, Mayor Daniel Crespo Shot, Killed at Home

Police say they believe the shooting was a domestic dispute.

ByABC News
September 30, 2014, 9:37 PM

— -- Bell Gardens, Calif., Mayor Daniel Crespo was fatally shot at his home Tuesday afternoon in what appeared to be a domestic dispute with his wife, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said.

The mayor, 45, was shot at a gated complex in the 6300 block of East Gage Avenue shortly after 2:30 p.m. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

"Daniel Crespo Sr. became involved in an argument with his wife, Levette Crespo. Their 19-year-old son, Daniel Crespo Jr. tried to intervene and ultimately became involved in a physical altercation with Daniel Crespo Sr. During that time, Levette Crespo produced a firearm and shot her husband multiple times in the torso," according to the statement.

Levette Crespo, 43, was held for questioning by the Bell Gardens Police Department, according to the Sheriff's Department statement. She was later released and has not been charged. At this point, no arrests have been made.

Crespo, who had been a county deputy probation officer for the past 15 years, was first elected to the City Council in 2001, according to the bio posted on the City of Bell Gardens website.

According to the bio, Crespo married his high school sweetheart in 1986 in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he grew up. They moved to Bell Gardens after they married, and had two children.