RICHMOND, Va. — Alexis Parker cannot wipe the scene from her brain after a hit-and-run crash left her severely injured and seeking justice.
"It plays over and over," Parker said. "I literally can see myself laying in the street."
One night in July 2025, a friend convinced Parker to go dancing at a club on Richmond Highway in South Richmond.
"The parking lot over there was full and I wasn't going to park in the street in my new truck," Parker said.
Parker parked across the street, walked to the intersection, looked both ways, and started to cross.
"As I'm turning my head — boom — that's when she hit me," Parker said.
Security video shows a turning car strike Parker.
Watch: Driver hit Alexis Parker in July 2025
"I kind of flew up on the hood of the car, and then I tumbled to the ground," Parker said.
The driver sped off, leaving Parker screaming in pain in the middle of the road.
"I looked down at my leg and I saw that the bone was hanging out," Parker said. "My tibia and fibula were both broken. My tailbone was fractured."
A little more than three weeks later, police arrested Latrice Coles, charging her with felony hit and run.
"I felt a big relief, because I was like, OK, now she's gonna be held accountable," Parker said.
Parker says that is not what happened when she showed up for Coles's trial in December 2025.
Instead of pursuing the felony, a Richmond prosecutor reduced the charge to misdemeanor failure to stop at the scene of an accident.
The judge ultimately gave Coles 12 months in jail, but suspended the entire sentence.
"They told her, 'Have a great day, Miss Coles, and make sure you stay out of trouble for the next year,' and let her walk out the courtroom while I stood there looking stupid," Parker said. "I was mad, a lot of rage, a lot of anger. I'm daily seeking professional help. I see a psychiatrist, just someone to help talk me through things, because it's hard. I feel like she wasn't held accountable."
Parker says the prosecutor told her since Coles never admitted to being the driver, he had to move forward with the reduced charge.
Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Colette McEachin tells CBS 6 that was the right call.
"The victim has her own belief and understanding about what happened, and while we are very sympathetic about what happened to her, the appropriate charge was the charge that was heard in court," McEachin said.
CBS 6 investigative reporter Melissa Hipolit asked McEachin how there was enough to charge her with that initial felony charge, but then there wasn't enough to move forward to trial on that charge.
"The standard of probable cause is less than the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt," McEachin said. "As the case is prepared for trial, that evidence can change. It would be wrong for us to go forward on a charge that we know the facts and the law do not support. And that's what happened."
McEachin declined to detail the evidence but said she would meet with Parker to discuss the case.
Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards says he believes investigators had enough evidence to move forward with the felony charge.
"That's why we charged it, but ultimately, that's not my decision. A lot of factors come into play," Edwards said.
Edwards did defend the detective work.
"The fact that we were able to make an arrest was positive. That's unfortunately not the majority of hit and run cases. The detective on that case worked really diligently to get to the point where we could charge a person," Edwards said.
After numerous surgeries and physical therapy, Parker is able to walk again, but has to use a cane.
"I can't work like I want to. I do hair, and I can't really take clients and live my life like I normally was," Parker said.
Parker says she cannot shake the memory of what happened to her both in the street and in the courtroom.
"I just feel like, even though it's nothing that can be done to the driver that hit me, going forward in these situations, do your job and hold people accountable, both the [police] and the Commonwealth, I feel like they both just let me down," Parker said.
McEachin and the prosecutor who handled Parker’s case did sit down with Parker on March 24.
Parker says they told her that the day of the trial, the detective handling her case told them that Coles never admitted to hitting her, and that prosecutors could not prove that she was the one driving the car because you cannot see the driver’s face in the video.
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