Wife Of Slain Bell Gardens Mayor Makes Bail On Involuntary Manslaughter Charge

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com)  — The wife of slain Bell Gardens Mayor Daniel Crespo Sr. posted bail and was released from sheriff's custody this afternoon, a day after pleading not guilty to a grand jury indictment charging her with voluntary manslaughter for her husband's shooting death last fall.

The grand jury indictment was unsealed Thursday against Lyvette Crespo, 43, who admits to shooting her husband three times in the right side of the chest at their condominium last Sept. 30.

She said she was defending herself and her teenage son from an abusive husband who had just allegedly punched their 19-year-old son Daniel Jr. in the face.

She was taken into custody yesterday in lieu of $150,000 bail, and was released about 4:40 Friday afternoon, according to sheriff's online jail records.

Crespo, who faces up to 21 years in state prison if convicted, is due back in Los Angeles Superior Court on May 29 for a pretrial hearing.

CBS2's Amy Johnson was at the jail in Lynwood when Crespo walked out.

Johnson reported that Crespo kept her head down and walked passed reporters with her hair covering her face.

Her attorney, Eber Bayona, contends that she was a longtime victim of domestic violence. He repeated that contention Thursday, and said Daniel Crespo "was a man who abused not only his wife but other women" and mentally and physically abused his children.

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