VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A man has been arrested after a local woman was found shot to death in a vehicle in Virginia Beach early Friday morning.
41-year-old Courtney Ian Moreno was arrested in Henrico County on Friday and charged with murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He’s in Henrico jail pending extradition to Virginia Beach, Beach police say.
Officials say just after midnight, a Virginia Beach police officer came upon a vehicle in the intersection of Golden Oak Court and S. Lynnhaven Road during a routine patrol and found a woman suffering from a gunshot wound.
She was pronounced deceased on scene.
Police and family members confirm with 10 On Your Side she was Sophia Hoggard.
Photos: Police investigate suspicious death in Va. Beach
Hoggard’s uncle says he was woken up to a call at 5 a.m. Friday to the news.
“Sophia Loved God, she loves people, and she loved her father, who recently died. She is in heaven with him now,” Allen Hoggard said. “If she went to a church program, she posted it. She told you about God, singing gospel songs and she would share them. She would share it with the world.”
The family is devastated because they just buried three other family members recently.
Family members are not sure why she was in the area — but the last person who spoke with her says she had plans to meet her ex boyfriend to pick up some paperwork.
“From what I understand she was suppose to meet someone,” Allen said. “She came out to meet him and she didn’t come home … a current friend started calling her phone and no answer … he goes to the house and tries to find out where she is.”
Hoggard leaves behind a lot of family and a lot of friends. Late Friday afternoon, friends stopped by to leave flowers.
The custodian at North Landing Elementary School was described as full of life with a bright spirit. She made and impression on all she met.
She loved her long fingernails and getting her hair done. She loved everyone she came across.
It appears there was wild gunfire in the parking lot at the Reflections Office Complex on South Lynnhaven Road. A stray bullet went into a window in a building next to Reflections.
It appears as Hoggard was driving away trying to escape with her life, as someone was firing at her car.
She ended up jumping a curb, stopping under a tree. Police came upon the car on routine patrol and observed Hoggard suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. She was dead at the scene.
“She was just about to go on vacation after dealing with her father’s death in March,” Allen Hoggard says of Sophia. “She was trying to get some relax time, but now she’s in heaven with her dad.”
As he looks back on it, Allen says he had a premonition something was about to happen. Something unpleasant.
“I had a dream two days ago that she was in trouble, but I didn’t know what to do with the dream. I didn’t make any phone calls.”
Sophia comes from a big family. We are told she was one of 11 siblings.
“To lose someone so young,” Allen said. “38 years old, she lost her father he was only 50. She just posted ‘happy birthday dad.’ He left her the sole responsibility for the other children.”
The family is left to wonder what happened.
“I am all cried out. I told God I’m all cried out. I got the wind knocked out of me. We’ve had the wind knocked out of us.”