Judge revokes bond for reality TV star charged with killing Portsmouth man in drunken crash

Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)

Dec. 22--VIRGINIA BEACH -- A judge on Friday revoked bond for a former reality television show star charged with killing a Portsmouth man in a drunken driving crash on Interstate 264.

Melissa Hancock, 25, who was a frequent guest on "Little Women: Atlanta," is charged with DUI maiming in the Nov. 4 crash near the Oceanfront.

Prosecutors said they plan to upgrade the charge to aggravated DUI manslaughter. The crime is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and requires a minimum of one year in jail.

Hancock walked into the courtroom Friday with the assistance of a walker.

Her attorney, Robert Morecock, told Circuit Judge Thomas Padrick that she suffered three fractures in her back and requires constant care.

She has had one surgery to install plates and screws to mend the fractures, and will need more later, he said. Her mother, who was in the courtroom Friday along with two of Hancock's aunts, has been caring for her.

"The jail is in no way capable of taking care of this woman," Morecock told the judge.

Padrick said that while he was concerned about the burden caring for Hancock will be for the jail, he believed the charges against her were too serious to allow her to remain on bond.

Police said Hancock was driving her 2011 Cadillac the wrong way on the intestate near the Birdneck Road exit at about 2 a.m. when she crashed head-on into a Mazda sedan being driven by 29-year-old Daniel Dill.

Dill, a Coast Guard petty officer second class, died the next day.

He was on his way to pick up his wife, Natalie Dill, and her friends, who were out celebrating Natalie's birthday. Daniel Dill had agreed to be their designated driver.

Hancock told a state police trooper that she had two to four mixed drinks at Peabody's Nightclub at the Oceanfront about an hour before the crash, according to a police summary of the incident. Hancock is 4 feet tall and weighs 77 pounds, according to a court summons.

The police summary said her blood alcohol content tested at 0.112 two hours later, but prosecutor Emily Woodley said Friday that it was between 0.17 and 0.19.

Hancock was taken to the hospital for treatment and later released to the jail. A judge granted her a $15,000 bond three days later and ordered her to wear a GPS tracking device that also monitors alcohol use.

Hancock had just moved to Virginia Beach and was working in insurance sales, according to a bail determination sheet in her court file. She has prior misdemeanor convictions for marijuana as well as speeding and reckless driving, Woodley said.

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