A Winston-Salem man didn’t show up Monday for his murder trial in the death of a Triad educator, and a Forsyth County judge has issued an order for his arrest.
Richard Allen Moore, 55, of Ader Drive in Winston-Salem, is accused of second-degree murder in the death of Holly Marie Hinson, 35, an assistant principal at Lexington Senior High School, in a crash on April 28, 2020. Forsyth County prosecutors say Moore was impaired at the time of the crash.
In addition to murder, Moore is also charged with felony death by motor vehicle and being an habitual felon. Prosecutors began presenting evidence on Nov. 29, and Moore, who has been out on bond, had appeared in court all last week, including for jury selection. But on Monday, Moore was nowhere to be seen.
It was not immediately clear why Moore did not show up. At one point Monday morning, Jimmy Quander, Moore’s attorney, appeared to step out of the courtroom to try to contact Moore after having a brief conference with Judge Stanley Allen, who is presiding over the trial, and the two prosecutors in the case, Matt Breeding and Aaron Berlin.
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Allen didn’t address the issue Monday morning but later issued an order that Moore be arrested and held without bond until he appears before a superior court judge.
Quander said Monday that he could not comment.
“Because of the posture of the case, pending before a jury, any comment is impermissible,” he said.
In opening statements last week, Breeding said Moore was driving his 2004 Jeep Laredo north on North Liberty Street. Moore had a trailer attached to his vehicle that held a three-wheel motorcycle that he had gotten in Tennessee.
Lisa Tofano Hathaway, Hinson’s friend and a special education teacher at Lexington Senior High, was driving a 2015 Honda Pilot south on Liberty Street. Hinson was in the front passenger seat of Hathaway’s vehicle, and the two friends were coming back from hiking that morning in Horizon Park, Hathaway testified.
Breeding said Moore began accelerating his car to speeds of up to 70 mph in a 35 mph zone. His vehicle was swerving across North Liberty Street and eventually crossed into the southbound lane.
Breeding said Moore’s vehicle crashed into the passenger side of Hathaway’s car, crushing Hinson.
Dr. William Harrison, a forensic pathologist at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, testified Monday that Hinson died from multiple blunt-force injuries. She had a skull fracture and had hemorrhaging at the stem of her brain. Her sternum was fractured and her heart had a tear in it. Hinson also had a fractured right femur, which Harrison said is a sturdy bone. It would take a significant amount of force to fracture the bone, he said.
Hinson died at the scene.
Breeding said in opening statements that test results showed Moore had amphetamine, hydrocodone and bezodiazepine in his system.
Quander has disputed that Moore was impaired. Quander argued that Hinson’s death was an accident caused by a medical condition that Moore suffered.
Quander said the day before, Moore drove to Tennessee and collected his motorcycle and made it back to North Carolina that same day. He stayed overnight in Hickory and drove back to Winston-Salem on April 28, 2020.
Moore got off the highway and onto North Liberty Street, where he went long stretches without any incident, passing warehouse buildings, gas stations and busy intersections. No one, Quander said, reported Moore was driving erratically.
Then, just before the crash, Moore began experiencing chest pains, and he accelerated his vehicle as his heart rate went up, Quander siad.
Quander said in opening statements that Moore cooperated as best he could with Winston-Salem police after the crash and went to the hospital with a cervical collar on. At no time, Quander aruged, was Moore detained on suspicion of impaired driving. Quander said Moore was allowed to leave the hospital hours later with the Winston-Salem Police Department’s permission.
But Sgt. James R. Mitchell of the Winston-Salem Police Department said he had obtained a search warrant to get a blood sample from Moore, and when he came to the hospital with the search warrant, Moore had already been discharged. Mitchell was able to get a sample of Moore’s blood and urine from the hospital, and Moore was arrested in early May, Mitchell testified.
The trial will resume Tuesday.
