Hope Ritter lived up to her name, according to her friend Glen Johnson.
She “radiated hope,” Johnson said Sunday, while leaning on the patio railing outside Atomic Liquors, where his friend of two years used to bartend before she was killed a week ago.
“Hope was not a public person, but she absolutely was a loving person. She loved everyone unconditionally,” he said. “Unfortunately, that is how she lost her life because she was doing an act of good, and it cost her her life. We are going to miss her 100 percent.”
Ritter, 29, was found shot in the head inside a vehicle in the early hours of Feb. 15 in downtown Las Vegas, just a few blocks from her job at Atomic Liquors.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Ritter and another person were sitting in a vehicle in the 400 block of 11th Street, near Lewis Avenue, sometime around 2 a.m. on Feb. 16, when two men walked past the vehicle.
The Clark County coroner’s office later confirmed that Ritter died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
Metro did not respond to a Friday email from the Review-Journal that asked whether an arrest had been made in the bartender’s death.
Johnson, who originally met Hope while hosting at Ninja Karaoke a few blocks down the street, said the bar had raised more than $500 when he arrived at 7 p.m.
All profits from that night’s business are slated to go to Ritter’s daughter, Atomic Liquors general manager Andrew Mendez previously told the Review-Journal.
During the fundraiser, makeshift memorials for the slain bartender could be seen throughout the bar. One near Johnson featured a framed photo of Ritter, a rose, and a cherub statue. White flowers were the centerpiece at the bar inside.
Danny Kean, known for his work as the “traveling pianist,” said he did not know Ritter personally but wanted to help raise money.
“I know her in spirit,” Kean said. “I know what her kid will have to live with. I know several of the bartenders in there, and I know this is traumatic.”
So, Kean, wearing a black shirt that read, “We can end gun violence” in white lettering, brought his piano and dog. He struck the keys in the back of his red pickup truck, which was parked in front of the venue, and sold photographs from his years on the road. Kean said all the money he made would be given to the fundraiser.
“Gun violence affects the people who witness it equally,” Kean added. “It is about those who are gone, but also those who have to live with this grief for the rest of their lives. So it hits my core.”
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.