LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The two men accused of killing a local bartender made their first appearance in Las Vegas Justice Court Tuesday morning.
Las Vegas police have identified Charles Wright, 20, and Phillip Strong, 18, as the suspects in the deadly shooting of Hope Ritter, 19, on 11th Street in downtown. Ritter, an Atomic Liquors employee, would be found shot to death inside the vehicle on Feb. 15.
According to a police report, Ritter drove an unnamed individual home from the bar, when two men wearing ski masks walked past her car.
The witness told police that they “heard two gunshots and Ritter stop talking mid-sentence,” before she slumped over in her seat.
The two suspects were seen running from the area on surveillance footage. Earlier that night, surveillance would also capture them entering multiple stores near downtown, and checking car doors to see if they were unlocked, police say.
They were seen stealing items from at least one car in the area, according to the report.
They are due back in court on April 7.
Atomic Liquors held a memorial fundraiser for Ritter last week, and spoke to FOX5 about how she will be missed.
“She was an incredibly warm, kind person,” Andrew Mendez, the General Manager of Atomic Liquors, said Thursday. “She had built up a following of regulars. You know, with her, with her personality, that they came here when over the weekends when they knew she’d be working .”
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