Man pleads not guilty to 2021 fatal hit and run in Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The man charged in a hit and run that killed one woman pleaded not guilty on Wednesday.

On Saturday, December 4, 2021, police responded to the Hawthorne Commons on the 4900 block of Tarheel Court where they discovered a vehicle had driven into an apartment.

A couple inside was rushed to New Hanover Regional Medical Center with serious injuries. 48-year-old Kelly Prince later died from her injuries and Luis Rodrigues was hospitalized with serious injuries.

Several neighbors witnessed the aftermath of the crash, including people that lived in the same building. They described it felt like an earthquake when the car collided with the building.

Then 23-year-old Walter Wade Ange was arrested and charged with felony hit and run resulting in death, felony hit and run resulting in serious injury, reckless driving to endanger, and a stop sign violation.

Ange appeared in court in New Hanover County on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to those charges in addition to felony death by motor vehicle and felony serious injury by vehicle.

His next court date is set for September 26, 2022.