Break the Cycle: Hampton woman questions legal system after violent ex released from jail

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — A Hampton family believes the legal system failed a survivor of domestic violence.

On July 25, Hampton police officers were called to Winder Court for a stabbing just before 5 a.m. In a press release, police confirmed the attacker, 58-year-old Richard “Ricky” Stanley Hogarth, died at the scene after he was hit in the head.

10 On Your Side obtained the HPD incident report, which details what happened. Officers said Hogarth forced his way into Angie Hall’s home. Hall was Hogarth’s ex-girlfriend. Her new boyfriend was also there during the attack.

Hall described the traumatic experience to 10 On Your Side. 

“He came in the bedroom and said, ‘I’m going to kill you before I go back to prison,'” Hall said.

Hall’s new boyfriend stopped the attack when he hit Hogarth in the head. Hogarth died of his injuries. Hall’s dad said she was stabbed 12 times in the attack, and her new boyfriend was stabbed twice.

“Thank God he [Hall’s new boyfriend] was still there when this happened,” Hall’s father, Lincoln Santiago, said.

“How in the world did this guy get loose? The system. Something is wrong with the system to allow this to happen,” Santiago added.

1995 murder conviction

10 On Your Side investigated Hogarth and discovered that he had a history of abusing women.

He shot and killed Tracy Dawn Crafton, a woman he dated for three weeks, in front of her grandparents in March 1995. Hogarth shot Crafton’s step-grandfather five times. He also aimed at her grandmother, but the clip was empty.

The shooting happened in a gas station parking lot in Elizabeth City. 10 On Your Side covered the murder when it happened.

“My husband said, ‘Who did this to you?’ He said, ‘I did it to her,'” Crafton’s grandmother, Shirley Revering, told 10 On Your Side in 1995. “He said, ‘Nanny, I’m going to kill her [and] stuck the gun to her temple.'”

Two days before she was killed, Crafton reported to the Camden County Sheriff’s Office that Hogarth beat her. 10 On Your Side spoke with the former Sheriff Joe Jones, after her murder.

“She said her boyfriend had beat her, but when I asked her when it happened, it was in Pasquotank County. So, I advised her to go to call officials over there,” Jones said.

Her grandmother also asked law enforcement for help hours before her granddaughter was killed, but was told Crafton had to take out a warrant for Hogarth’s arrest.

Hogarth went on the run after Crafton’s murder. He was arrested a week later in a stolen car in Virginia Beach.

He was convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated assault in January 1996, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety offender public information. He served over 20 years in prison.

January 2022 attack

Hogarth was eventually released from prison, then he met Hall in November 2021. The two dated for a little over two months. After a ski trip together, Hall said she wanted to call the relationship off.

“He wasn’t happy,” she said. “I was not going to pursue any type of intimate relationship.”

Around this time, Hall said she started learning about Hogarth’s dark past.

“That was part of what weighed on my decision not to want to pursue anything further,” she said.

Hall said her decision to end the relationship led Hogarth to attack her at her home for the first time in January.

Hogarth punched, stabbed, and hit Hall with a baseball bat several times on Jan. 30, according to police. Hall had cuts on her face, shoulder, and wrist. She also had a broken forearm and fingers.

Hampton police charged Hogarth with several crimes, including aggravated maiming. They also requested an emergency protective order against Hogarth, although Hall said she never received a protective order.

Hogarth ran from Hall’s home before officers arrived. While on the run, he messaged Hall on Facebook. She used those messages to send tips to U.S. Marshals. She said the tips helped tracked him down to a homeless camp in Washington D.C. in June.

Hogarth’s arrest and release

U.S. Marshals arrested Hogarth in Washington D.C. on June 16 as a fugitive from justice. The next day, Hogarth waived an extradition hearing and he was held in a Washington D.C. jail where Hampton police had three business days to pick him up, according to court records and a spokesperson.

The Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell confirmed that their office was notified that Hampton police would pick Hogarth up on June 23; however, Washington D.C. court officials confirmed that Hampton officers did not get him from their jail. On June 24, the charge was dismissed.

He was rearrested as a fugitive of justice in Washington D.C. on June 27. Washington D.C. court documents show that an arraignment hearing was scheduled; then Hogarth was released from the Washington D.C. jail and given a pre-trial date of Aug. 10.

About a month after he was released from jail in Washington D.C., he attacked Hall for the second time.

10 On Your Side Investigative Producer Sean Davis dug into Hogarth’s arrest and release. Washington D.C. court officials told him that Hogarth’s arrests and releases in their jurisdiction were not the results of any errors.

This was neither a court nor a marshal error. When a fugitive case is filed, and the fugitive waives, that is, does not fight the extradition, the fugitive is sent to DC Jail, and the demanding jurisdiction (e.g., Maryland, Virginia) has three business days to come to DC Jail and get the person. A control date is scheduled after the third day. If the demanding jurisdiction doesn’t come for the person, the court is notified about the fact, and in absence of an extension request, the person must be released. This explains the first case number. The second case number possibly came from a re-bring, that is, the demanding jurisdiction, after having been notified that the person had been released because of their not having come to get the person at the DC Jail, made another fugitive request.

Doug Buchanan, Director of Media and Public Relations for D.C. Courts

Hall, who is still healing mentally and physically from Hogarth’s July attack, is disappointed and feels failed by the legal system. She believes if Hogarth had remained in jail, the second attack may have never happened. She plans to pursue legal action.

10 On Your Side’s investigative team reached out to Hampton police several times for comment on this case, but did not receive a response before publication.