A bartender was shot and killed in downtown Las Vegas in early February. Two people have been arrested in connection with the crime.
Police in Las Vegas said on Monday that 18-year-old Philip Strong and 20-year-old Charles Wright had been arrested as suspects in the death of 29-year-old Hope Ritter.
Law enforcement says Wright was already in the Clark County Detention Center on separate charges.
CNN reports that on Friday, police said he was booked back into jail for open murder with a dangerous weapon. Strong was caught the same day in North Las Vegas and taken to jail on charges of open murder with a dangerous weapon.
Channel 13 says that Ritter was shot between 2:34 am and 2:45 am on February 15, after having just finished her shift as a waiter at Atomic Liquors.
The general manager of Atomic Liquors, Andrew Mendez, told the news source that the cops called what happened “random violence.”
Investigators say Ritter and her friend were talking in their car when two guys walked by. What the cops said was “moments later, shots were fired, striking the victim.” She died right there.
Her daughter was 10 years old. Ritter was her mother.
“Everything she did, she did for her daughter, to give her daughter a better life than she had, and that’s how we want people to remember her,” said Mendez.
He said Ritter made everyone feel welcome at the bar. He said she had been going to school to become a barber and was nearly done with her program when she was killed.
Fox 5 Las Vegas says that Atomic Liquors held a funeral for the young mother on Sunday.
“To be honest, every moment I spent with her was great.” His friend Maria Ledesma said, “We had fun, it was a blast.” “I’d meet her again if I had the chance.” This woman was truly amazing; she worked hard and was always eager to make things better for herself and her daughter.
The funeral was also a way for Ritter’s daughter to raise money. Mendez said that the bar’s Sunday sales would all go to Ritter’s daughter. He also said that gift boxes would be left in the bar for the next four weeks to get more money for the 10-year-old.
The Homicide Section of the Las Vegas Metro Police has asked anyone with information about the killing to get in touch with them.
