A judge on Monday held without bail one of the suspects in the fatal shooting of an Atomic Liquors bartender after a detective testified that surveillance footage showed the men walking by Hope Ritter’s vehicle, then fleeing.
Phillip Strong, 18, and Charles Wright, 20, were arrested in connection with the Feb. 15 slaying of Ritter, 29. Ritter was found inside a vehicle on the 400 block of 11th Street, shot in the head.
She left behind a 10-year-old daughter and many friends, bar manager Andrew Mendez said previously.
Strong and Wright face charges of open murder, burglary and discharging a gun at an occupied structure or vehicle.
“The court’s overwhelming concern today is risk to the community,” said Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Diana Sullivan, before announcing she would not set bail for Strong.
She added: “There doesn’t seem to be any explanation for why this occurred.”
Chief Deputy District Attorney Nicholas Portz called the facts of the case “chilling” and “shocking.”
“She was shot and killed while sitting in the front seat of her vehicle outside her friend’s house,” he said. “She was unarmed, she was unsuspecting, she was completely vulnerable and had zero opportunity whatsoever to even defend herself. She was essentially executed in cold blood.”
During the hour-long bail hearing, Portz played surveillance video as Metropolitan Police Department homicide Detective James Milligan testified that the footage showed the movements of Wright and Strong around the time of the killing.
Beforehand, they bought masks at a 7-Eleven appeared to burglarize or attempt to burglarize cars, according to Milligan. At the time of the shooting, surveillance recorded them walking by Ritter’s vehicle, followed by two muzzle flashes a few minutes later, he said. Afterwards, the detective said, video showed them running.
When detectives searched Strong’s residence, they discovered a pistol under his bed, Milligan said. Testing of the gun found “a possible association” between a cartridge case from a test firing and those found at the scene, he testified.
In Wright’s wallet, police found a receipt for the masks, according to the detective.
Under questioning from Strong’s attorney, Ryan Helmick, Milligan said police discovered a holster in Wright’s house and confirmed surveillance showed the shape of what might have been a gun in Wright’s sweatshirt, but did not show any image of Strong having a gun.
It’s not clear who pulled the trigger, Helmick said. His client was born in Las Vegas, has no criminal record and has family support, according to Helmick, who asked for $75,000 bail with high-level electronic monitoring.
A preliminary hearing is set for April 7, but it may not happen.
Portz said he served a Marcum notice on the defense, which prosecutors use to reserve the right to take the case to a grand jury. If a grand jury indicts Strong, the case will move to District Court without a preliminary hearing.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.