Hit-and-run hearing: New details emerge in death of Virginia Living editor Hope Cartwright

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Loved ones of Hope Cartwright showed up to the John Marshall Courthouse on Tuesday, March 10, wearing pink bracelets in honor of the 23-year-old killed in a hit-and-run in February.

Latesha Coleman, 41, is the suspect in the case.

She appeared in-person for her preliminary hearing, standing just feet away from Cartwright’s family and supporters, who filled two rows in their pink attire.

Coleman is being held without bond. She was identified as the driver shortly after the crash.

A detective testified Tuesday, saying he went to the house where Coleman was found and spotted her truck with a large dent on the passenger side rear door. He says there was also a substance on it that could have been some of Cartwright’s DNA.

He said he smelled “the odor of an alcoholic beverage” when he was alone in a police car with Coleman the night of the accident.

Coleman was allegedly getting food before the crash and was on her way home when she struck Cartwright.

The other two witnesses who testified on Tuesday were Cartwright’s colleagues.

They were the ones with her right before and after the crash. They say they stayed with her as she was unable to speak or open her eyes, and a bystander called 911.

“I don’t think the shock has worn off. For me, it hasn’t. I keep trying to shake it off. It’s just surreal. I mean, she was such an integral part of every single day at Virginia Living,” Editor-In-Chief of Virginia Living Madeline Mayhood said.

Coleman was silent throughout the hearing. Her head stayed down for most of it.

It’s been three weeks since Cartwright was killed, and the magazine is grappling with the reality of working without her.

“We miss her quirkiness. We miss her humor. We miss her presence every second. And none of us can believe it,” Mayhood said.

Mayhood and her colleagues just want to make sure Cartwright is remembered.

“I don’t want anyone to forget how brilliant she was,” Mayhood said. “She understood Richmond and Virginia in a way that no 23-year-old does. I don’t even know, and I’ve lived here all my life. She just got it. She got what we’re about, and she got celebrating the Commonwealth. She was such a star.”

A tribute for Cartwright is scheduled for March 28 at Chimborazo Park in Richmond. People are invited to wear pink, which was her favorite color.

The Commonwealth’s Attorney on the case and Coleman’s lawyer both could not comment to 12 On Your Side following the hearing.

The case will go to a grand jury on April 6.