South Bay College Student Killed in Santa Cruz Hit-and-Run Crash

REDONDO BEACH, CA -- A UC Santa Cruz student from the South Bay died over the weekend, a week after she was struck by an SUV in a hit-and-run accident while walking from a Halloween party, it was reported Monday.

Alexandria Arceneaux, 20, who was from Lawndale was hit Oct. 30 about 2 a.m. while walking along Highway 1 between River and Mission streets, the Santa Cruz Police Department reported, according to the Los Angeles Times. She was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and died Saturday while surrounded by family members from the L.A. area, police said.

Arceneaux’s mother, Gina Williams, who lives in Redondo Beach, told the Santa Cruz Sentinel that her daughter was walking with friends when she was struck. Arceneaux was in her junior year at UC Santa Cruz and studied theater arts, according to the Sentinel. Last spring, she was included on the Dean's Honors List.

The driver in the hit-and-run remains at large. Investigators have determined the vehicle involved was a silver Honda CRV made between 2010 and 2012 whose front passenger-side bumper likely is damaged., and police are asking the public to help track down the SUV’s driver.

Authorities have reached out to body shops, auto parts stores, salvage yards and glass repair shops to see if vehicles there match the suspected SUV, The Times reported.

A GoFundMe campaign initially created to help the woman's family with travel expenses to the Bay Area has raised $16,660, well above its $15,000 goal as of late Monday.

The donations will now be used for her "home-going services" and medical bills, her family posted on the fundraising page.

Additional money will be set aside for a reward that will be awarded to anyone with information that leads to the hit-and-run driver's arrest, according to the family.

Contributions to the fundraiser can be made online at https://www.gofundme.com/KeepAlexFighting.

Anyone with information on the suspect vehicle or driver was asked to call police at (831) 420-5820.

-- Patch Editor Susan Schena and City News Service contributed to this report. Photo courtesy of GoFundMe