Background: The aftermath of the collision on 2nd Street in Richmond, Virginia (WTVR/YouTube). Inset: Hope Cartwright (Virginia Living).
A woman mowed down a pedestrian walking on a city crosswalk in broad daylight in Virginia, killing her, and then continued driving, authorities say.
Latesha Coleman, 41, has been charged with felony hit-and-run in the death of 23-year-old Hope Cartwright, the Richmond Police Department said in a press release shared with Law&Crime. The crash occurred on Monday.
At about 5:30 p.m. that day, Cartwright was walking eastbound along the crosswalk of 2nd Street in Richmond. Suddenly, a vehicle making a left turn from East Cary Street struck her, authorities said.
According to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, the sun did not set on Monday until 5:50 p.m. At approximately 5:34 p.m., Richmond police officers responded to the crash site, but the “striking vehicle had left the scene.”
Cartwright was “down and unresponsive” on the street, police added in the press release. A nearby neighbor”s Ring camera reportedly captured the collision, with the woman telling Richmond-based ABC affiliate WRIC, “I think she was hit from the back, and she got dragged a little bit, and then the car completely ran her over.”
“Her lunch box was still on the road for a few hours after she got hit,” Ari Abad added, saying she could see that the pedestrian walk sign was on when Cartwright was hit. Video taken by the TV station after the crash showed a pink lunch box on the street next to a pink boot.
“She was in the crosswalk as that car turned,” Abad added. “It seemed impossible to miss the pedestrian, because she was directly in front of the car.”
Coleman — later identified as the driver — is believed to have had a green light but failed to yield to the pedestrian on the crosswalk as she made her turn.
Cartwright was brought to an area hospital, where she “succumbed to her injuries,” police said.
Investigators studied the scene using video from traffic cameras and license plate-reading technology to identify the vehicle that hit the victim. Within an hour, police said, officers found the parked vehicle and contacted its owner, Coleman. She was arrested and charged.
Cartwright was an associate editor for Virginia Living, a magazine that “celebrates all things Virginia,” according to its website.
“We are devastated,” Virginia Living editor in chief Madeline Mayhood told WRIC, describing Cartwright as “a real rockstar” who was approaching her second anniversary at the magazine. “Her death, at 23, is unfathomable. We’re all still in disbelief and shock.”
Richmond is the capital of Virginia, with a population north of 200,000.
