In her resignation letter, Beatty -- a 37-year-old mother of two who was married at the time of the romance -- said she regretted "the devastation that the recent reports have caused to the citizens of Detroit" and to the mayor's family and her own co-workers, family and friends.
Neither their attorneys nor Kilpatrick's family -- including his mother, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) -- returned calls for comment Monday.
It has been a rocky political tenure for the man once dubbed "America's hip-hop mayor."
The two-term mayor, who previously worked as a teacher and served in the state Legislature, won points early in his term for reorganizing the city's Police Department and pushing for urban renewal in the downtown area: The mortgage firm Quicken Loans has announced plans to move an estimated 4,000 workers from a Detroit suburb to downtown, and two new casino resorts opened there late last year, creating new service jobs.
But such gains often were overshadowed by Kilpatrick's clashes with Detroit's established political guard, and media reports of questionable charges on a city credit card and allegations that he used city funds to lease a Lincoln Navigator for his family.
Kilpatrick and Beatty have known one another since high school, and worked closely together during his successful 2001 mayoral bid.
The issue of a romantic relationship came up in court last year, when each one was questioned under oath by a lawyer for two of the former police officers -- Deputy Chief Gary Brown, who worked in police internal affairs, and Officer Harold Nelthrope, a member of the mayor's police security team. Kilpatrick and Beatty denied the affair.
When a jury ruled against the city in the case, Kilpatrick initially vowed to appeal the decision.
But Kilpatrick later approved a settlement in the case, paying almost $9 million total to the two officers and a former police bodyguard who had sued separately, and in legal costs.
The affair was first reported in the Detroit Free Press last week, after a pair of investigative reporters obtained almost 14,000 text messages sent from, and received by, Beatty's city-owned pager in 2002 and 2003.
The Free Press also reported that Kilpatrick allegedly used city funds to cover personal travel expenses with Beatty, including one trip to Denver, and had discussed how to arrange rendezvous to resorts in Houston and hotels in West Virginia.
In one exchange dated Oct. 7, 2002, Beatty reportedly sent the mayor a late-night note: "I'm feeling like I want another night like the most recent Saturday at the Residence Inn! You made me feel so damn good that night."
Nine days later, Kilpatrick sent Beatty a message that read, "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days . . . relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who learned about the affair from the newspaper's reporting, announced the day the story was published that her office was launching an investigation.
p.j.huffstutter@latimes.com
