USC Student Killed in Hit-and-Run

The mother of a University of Southern California student run down and killed near campus Sunday morning screamed her pain to reporters at the scene of the collision Monday.

Carmen Bachan's 19-year-old daughter Adriana, from Santa Barbara, died after she and a friend were struck while walking in a crosswalk at the intersection of Jefferson and Hoover boulevards near USC.

"Help us, please, I beg you," cried Bachan, saying she can shed no more tears. With her voice now hoarse from crying, she pleaded with the public for someone to come forward with information.

"Some people ran her over," she cried. "I beg anyone who saw it to please help me."

As LAPD officers and USC administrators attempted to calm her, detectives with the police department spoke up with very little new information.

"We really need the public's help. We have a vehicle out there with extensive front-end damage and a broken windshield," said Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese.

Police said there were no skid marks on the pavement.

Just after 3 a.m. Sunday, police say someone driving a dark-colored vehicle -- possibly a late '90s or early 2000-model Honda Accord, Toyota Corolla or Lexus -- ran a red light and ran into Adriana Bachan and friend Marcus Garfinkle. Bachan died at the hospital. Garfinkle ended up on the hood of the car as the driver began to speed away. But witnesses told police the driver stopped for a moment, allowed a male Latino passenger to exit and remove Garfinkle from the hood, before leaving the scene.

"I just can't believe someone could do that," said one USC student. "No regard for human life."

LAPD has little to go on, saying they are continuing to speak with witnesses of the collision. Both Bachan and Garfinkle were members of Greek organizations; Bachan a member of USC's Pi Beta Phi and Garfinkle a member of Lambda Chi Alpha. But Greek Row remained silent Monday as both houses mourn the events of Sunday.

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