'I can't imagine why God took her': Family mourns teen killed by suspect fleeing from Fresno police
19-year-old Hannah Pimentel's family says she lit up a room with her smile and wanted good things for everyone.
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Coroners identified the woman killed by a suspect trying to escape the police as 19-year-old Hannah Pimentel.
Late Thursday, police identified the suspect as Marc Cain Rodriguez. They're asking for the public's help to track down the 31-year-old.
The Fresno City College student was aiming for a business degree and her family says she was a bright light in this world.
Pimentel got goofy to help her sister through a hard day before COVID hit.
A year later, Amy Daneen talked to her sister for the last time Wednesday morning and planned to do her hair at night.
"I said 'I love you'," said Daneen. "'I'll see you later.' And I texted her around 3 o'clock and I never heard from her."
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Amy says her sister had bloomed in the last couple years, learning to be happy as well as fearless and funny.
Hannah lit up a room with her smile and wanted good things for everyone.
She was willing to stand up for others.
"She would be right there to protest with you for Black Lives Matter, you know, right there at a Pride Festival, right there next to you picking up and helping people that aren't living in tents," Daneen said.
Hannah also loved her new BMW, and she traveled all over to find new American beauty.
She was driving the car Wednesday when a suspected gang member trying to avoid arrest crashed into her car.
Hannah died.
The suspect ran away and police haven't caught him.
"If you're watching this, see how much hurt you've done to our family," Daneen said, directing her thoughts for a moment away from her sister and towards the driver who killed her. "I don't want to threaten because I'm so angry. But she would've never hurt a single soul."
In fact, Amy says Hannah would probably forgive the man who killed her.
Amy says she lost her biggest supporter and fan, and the grief is still growing, but she knows Hannah is somewhere else now, making it a better place.
"I can't imagine why God took her, but I guess he needed a bubbly, strong, goofy personality up there," she said.
The family has started a GoFundMe page to pay for funeral expenses and if anything is left over, they want it to go to a human rights organization in Hannah's memory.
