A Virginia magazine editor was killed as she walked across the streets in downtown Richmond in a hit-and-run, police said.
According to Virginia Living publisher John-Lawrence Smith, 23-year-old Hope Cartwright, an associate editor at the widely-read local magazine, was killed on Monday, Feb. 16 during a hit-and-run.
“It is with profound sorrow that I write to you today with devastating news,” Smith wrote in a Facebook post. “Hope was all of 23 years old—gifted, dedicated, and one of the most talented members of the Virginia Living team.”
“She stood at the threshold of what would have been a remarkable career, and her absence leaves a wound that words cannot adequately express,” he said.
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According to the Richmond, Virginia Police Department, authorities were called to the intersection around 5:34 p.m. Monday and found Cartwright unresponsive. She was transported to a hospital where she died.
Using traffic camera footage and data from Flock Automatic License Plate Readers, authorities determined that a vehicle making a left turn struck her and fled before officers arrived. According to police, analysts in the RPD Capital City Intelligence Center identified the vehicle and its registered owner, identified as Latesha Coleman, 41, within an hour.
Coleman is charged with felony hit-and-run in connection to the crash. Her next court appearance is March 10.
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On Wednesday, according to WTVR-TV, the Commonwealth’s Attorney urged the judge to deny bond citing Coleman’s criminal history of drug possession and selling convictions, petit larceny conviction, and several failures to appear dating back to 2002.
She was more than halfway through the intersection, they said.
“[Hope] did everything she was supposed to,” the prosecution told the judge.
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According to the outlet, the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office said that the video allegedly shows Coleman briefly slowing down after impact before driving off.
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They also said, according to WTVR-TV, that Coleman told detectives she thought she hit a curb and that investigators “noticed an odor of alcohol.”
But the prosecutor said that there are no curbs or medians anywhere near the middle of the intersection where Cartwright was struck. They also said Coleman was driving on a suspended license but at one point did have a CDL license.
