SAN JOSE – The family of an 18-year-old Morgan Hill woman is reeling after she was hit and killed by a suspected drunken driver over the weekend in South San Jose.
A relative identified the woman as Emily Hamilton.
The fatal collision happened around 11:40 p.m. Saturday in southbound lanes of Highway 101, south of Hellyer Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol.
“She was only five minutes away from home,” Hamilton’s cousin, Jill Moore, said in an email Monday.
Moore said Hamilton had been driving home from a closing shift at California’s Great America in Santa Clara when she was rear-ended. When Hamilton pulled over to exchange information with the driver, she was hit and killed by a second driver.
The second driver — identified only as a 43-year-old Morgan Hill woman — was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence causing injury, CHP Officer Alicia Moreno said.
The 43-year-old woman suffered only minor injuries in the crash, according to the CHP.
Hamilton graduated from high school in June and was looking forward to starting business classes at Foothill College, according to Moore and a GoFundMe fundraiser organized by a family member.
“Emily had her entire life ahead of her,” Moore said.
Hamilton was also a “cherished daughter, granddaughter, niece, sister and friend who has brought so much light and love into all our lives,” according to the fundraiser.
The fundraiser aims to help her father, Jeremy Hamilton, “give his beautiful baby girl the farewell she deserves.” About $3,000 of the $10,000 goal had been raised as of Monday night.
In addition to her father, Hamilton is survived by three sisters and “countless other family and friends who loved her dearly and are absolutely devastated by this sudden and unexpected loss,” Moore said.
Southbound Highway 101 was partially closed south of Hellyer Avenue following the crash and did not reopen until just before 3 a.m. Sunday, according to the CHP.
Anyone with information related to the case can contact the CHP San Jose area office at 408-961-0900.
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