The death of a USC student and the critical injury of another in a violent hit-and-run accident left the urban campus reeling Monday as authorities and relatives called on the public for help in locating the driver and the badly damaged car.
"We need to find the vehicle," said LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese. "We need to find it quickly."
The accident, which occurred at the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover Street at 3 a.m. Sunday, left Adrianna Bachan, 18, dead and Marcus Garfinkle, 19, clinging to life. According to witnesses, Garfinkle was carried about 500 feet on the vehicle's windshield before the driver stopped and a passenger removed him from the car. The vehicle then sped off.
At a Monday news conference, Bachan's mother, Carmen Bachan, held up pictures of her daughter and pleaded, "If anybody knows anything, I want them to help me."
Police say the driver had run a red light before the accident. Investigators and relatives said they were shocked by the cold behavior of the driver and passenger.
"The passenger got out of the car and threw the young man on the street after they destroyed my baby," Carmen Bachan said.
Albanese said investigators were looking for a black sedan -- possibly a Lexus, a Honda Accord or a Toyota Corolla -- that sustained heavy damage to its front end and a cracked windshield. Officers have already begun canvassing auto repair shops and have told employees to keep an eye out for the vehicle.
The intersection at Jefferson and Hoover is one of the busiest near USC. Scores of students walk, ride bicycles or skateboard across it each day, to and from class. It was far from deserted early Sunday morning when the two first-year students found themselves in the path of a speeding car.
Will Sturgeon, a 19-year-old freshman in environmental studies, said he was walking back to campus from a party when he hard a loud crash.
"We look over and we see this girl in the air and hitting the ground," he said. Sturgeon and others called authorities while a friend blocked traffic. Sturgeon and the friend flagged down a passing fire engine, he said.
Sturgeon said he thought the two students might have crossed the street outside of the crosswalk, because Bachan's body ended up about 15 yards away from it.
News of the accident quickly spread through the campus.
