In the same sanctuary where she took her first communion, Adrianna Bachan was memorialized Wednesday as more than 300 people packed Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Montecito. The 19-year-old USC freshman was killed in a March 29 hit-and-run collision that seriously injured her companion as they walked near the Los Angeles campus.
After the service, Bachan’s mother, Carmen, talked about how grateful she was for the outpouring of support she’s received from the community. Tearful and holding a black urn of her daughter’s ashes, she fought through her grief to speak to the media.
“When I first heard of my baby dying, I thought ‘This world is a mess,’” she said, overcome with emotion. “And then all these people have been so kind, I can’t believe it. People from all over the world have told me to keep going.”
During the memorial service, several mourners shared eulogies for the standout youth soccer player. Richard Ross said he first met Bachan when he coached the then-12-year-old playing soccer on his daughter’s team. “She burned brightly, but briefly,” he said. “The candle of her life burned down before its time.”
Bachan was a 2008 graduate of Santa Barbara High, where she was captain of the girls’ soccer team her senior year. She was an environmental studies major at USC and a new member of Pi Beta Phi sorority.
Alexandra Bachan struggled with emotion as she spoke about her younger sister.
“I lost my sister and the world has lost a beautiful woman who undoubtedly would’ve accomplished great things,” she said.
Alexandra Bachan said her father, James, was having a particularly hard time with the death, and couldn’t find the strength to attend the memorial.
“My dad lost so much when he lost Adrianna,” she said. “Not a day would go by that they wouldn’t talk.”
Bachan and Marcus Garfinkle, 19, of Scottsdale, Ariz., were walking in a marked crosswalk on Jefferson Boulevard at Hoover Street, on the north side of the USC campus, about 3 a.m. March 29 when a car ran a red light and struck them. Bachan died of her injuries. Witnesses reported that the car drove about 400 feet with Garfinkle embedded in the hood and windshield before the driver stopped and a passenger got out and threw him to the ground. Garfinkle remained hospitalized in stable condition Wednesday. Both of his legs were broken and he suffered numerous other injuries in the crash.
The alleged driver, Claudia Cabrera, 30, of South Los Angeles, was arrested April 2 and on Monday pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run driving. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said the manslaughter charge cannot be considered a felony because, as of now, it cannot be proven whether Cabrera was intoxicated at the time of the collision. Cabrera is due back in court May 4, when a hearing will be scheduled to determine if enough evidence exists for a trial. She faces eight years in prison if convicted.
Cabrera’s husband, Josue Luna, 31, is being sought as “a person of interest” in the case. Los Angeles police say he may have been the passenger who dislodged Garfinkle from the hood and then reportedly held the windshield in place with his hand as the car sped away. Police said the couple’s 7-month-old infant also was in the car at the time of the collision.
Police said Cabrera was driving with a suspended license for unpaid traffic tickets. Although the car — a dark green 2000 Infiniti four-door sedan, California license plate 4DUG665 — has not been found, police said tipsters have reported that the windshield has been replaced.
John Welch, a Bachan family friend, thanked the detectives who apprehended the alleged driver, whom Welch called a “rotten human being.” He predicted Luna “would be caught and brought to justice.”
Welch also spoke for Bachan’s father.
“Jim will be back, and he will be the biggest advocate for that intersection at Jefferson and Hoover,” he said.
The intersection where Bachan was killed is notoriously treacherous for pedestrians, and her mother said she’s on a mission to see that the area’s safety is improved. She said she’d like to see a pedestrian bridge constructed.
“You’ve all been there and you’ve seen the children crossing and the cars almost hitting them,” she said. “Somebody will do something, that I can assure you.”
Keeping the intersection foremost in the public’s memory is paramount for Carmen Bachan, and she thanked the media for covering the memorial.
“Keep my baby’s story alive,” she said. “Don’t let it go away.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com.
