Woman seeks justice for fiancé who was hit and killed on Gaston County road

GASTONIA, N.C. — A Gastonia woman says she will attend every court appearance of the man accused of hitting and killing her fiancé.

Investigators say James Mitchell was killed while he was walking along South New Hope Road in Gastonia on Jan. 28. They say a truck veered off the road, took out mailboxes, and hit Mitchell.

“He’s walked down there thousands of time,” said Vanessa Glenn, who was engaged to Mitchell.

“I think it was horrible, horrible,” Glenn said.

The driver of the truck, David Pope, stayed at the scene.

Last week, Pope was charged with death by motor vehicle and driving with a revoked license. He was given a $100,000 bond.

Glenn is worried that Pope’s bond may get lowered.

“He don’t need to get out,” she said.

In the past year, Pope has been arrested on seven separate counts of failure to appear in court.

Glenn is concerned that if Pope makes bond, he won’t come back.

“Justice won’t be served if he gets out. He took somebody’s life,” she said.

Glenn says she will attend every hearing to keep Pope’s bond high as nagging questions linger.

“Does it bother him? Does he have any remorse,” Glenn said.

Police have questions too. They want to know if Pope was impaired.

According to court records, they got a search warrant to have his blood tested. Channel 9 is waiting to learn what they found.

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