2 men arrested in Las Vegas bartender’s death

Two men have been arrested in the slaying of Hope Ritter, a bartender at Atomic Liquors.

Ritter was shot inside a car on Feb. 15 in the 400 block of 11th Street, just a few blocks from the bar.

Detectives identified 18-year-old Phillip Strong and 20-year-old Charles Wright as suspects in the homicide, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Wright was already in police custody at the Clark County Detention Center for unrelated charges and was re-booked on Friday on suspicion of open murder with a deadly weapon, police said. He is also facing charges of burglary while in possession of a firearm and two counts of discharging a gun into an occupied structure or vehicle, according to court records.

‘Radiated hope’

Ritter leaves behind a 10-year-old daughter and a long list of devastated friends within the downtown community, said Andrew Mendez, Atomic Liquors’ general manager.

“Everything Hope did was for her daughter,” friend and colleague Maria Ledesma said. “She was a hard worker who just wanted to always become a better version of herself. She was just so sweet.”

Atomic Liquors hosted a memorial event for Ritter on Sunday. There, her friend Glen Johnson said she “radiated hope.”

“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.”

Johnson, who originally met Ritter 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.

Profits from that night’s business are slated to go to Ritter’s daughter, according to Mendez.

Suspect has criminal history

Wright pleaded guilty in July 2022 to one count of residential burglary and one count of battery with use of a deadly weapon resulting in bodily harm.

Wright did not go to prison, and instead received a sentence of five years of probation in August 2022 and was ordered to pay $16,085.25 in restitution to his victims, according to court documents.

Police said Strong was arrested in North Las Vegas on Friday. He was booked on suspicion of the same charges as Wright, court records show.

Court records state Wright and Strong are expected to make an initial appearance in court on Tuesday.

‘Full of life and laughter’

Lorie Piamchuntar, who worked as Ritter’s general manager for two years at Makers &Finders in downtown Las Vegas, said she felt “a little bit of relief” when she heard about the arrest of the two suspects.

“(The news) kind of eases the tears for a little bit, but it still hurts; it’s still just a terrible, terrible situation,” she said.

Piamchuntar said remembers Ritter was always “full of life and laughter” when she worked at the downtown restaurant.

“(She was) always goofy, and just always brought such a good energy to the room; she loved very, very hard,” she said. “No matter how much time had went by, or distance there was, she just loved everybody so hard, and always kept us close her heart.”

Now, Piamchuntar said she hopes that the two men suspected of her friend’s slaying are brought to justice.

Her hope is that justice will prevail and “give her daughter the peace of mind that justice was served and her mom wasn’t taken away from her for no reason.”

Piamchuntar and several of Ritter’s former coworkers gathered at the Starboard Tack on Saturday to celebrate her life and share memories and photos, she said.

Most of all, they wanted to show Ritter’s daughter that she isn’t alone.

“We got a notebook and wrote all these messages for her daughter, just so she knows that she’s supported, and she has all of us.”

Career at Atomic

In the time Ritter had worked at the bar, Mendez said, she had built a roster of “regulars” who would often come in mostly to hang out with her.

“She was very friendly and warm,” Mendez said. “There were a lot of people who knew that she started at 5 p.m. every Friday and Saturday. They’d hang out at the bar for a few hours, hang out with Hope, and then go home.”

Lonnie O’Hara is a local tattoo artist who also bartends in Las Vegas part-time. He said he recently dated Ritter. Even though they broke up, they remained close friends, he said.

He said he’s still “in the dark” about exactly what happened and that he’s heartbroken over Ritter’s death.

“She was a rock for a lot of people,” O’Hara said. “She was a very genuine soul; she had a chill approach, a unique laugh, and she just made people feel at home when they were around her.”

O’Hara said Ritter drove an Atomic Liquors “regular” home from the bar the night she was shot. He described Ritter as a good mother who loved tattoos and people and had moved to Las Vegas from California a few years ago to start a new chapter.

While Ritter worked full time at the bar, she also was going to school to become a barber. She was slated to graduate from The Original Barber School on South Pecos Road.

Martin Hernandez, a barber school classmate who graduated in December, told the Review-Journal that “this whole situation is insane” and that he was still trying to process Ritter’s death.

For Ledesma, and all the others who are grieving, the support has been comforting, but the shock of Ritter’s violent death remained.

“It’s been hard to work here because I keep seeing her in every corner or at the bar,” Ledesma said. “I keep expecting her to be behind the bar. We just have to keep pushing ahead.”

Contact Taylor Lane at tlane@reviewjournal.com. Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X and @katiefutterman.bsky.social. Staff writers Bryan Horwath and Akiya Dillon contributed to this report.