A suspected hit-and-run driver who allegedly killed a 21-year-old college student at a Redondo Beach intersection and fled the scene was arrested Monday.
Leila Gonzalez, 21, of Bell, was arrested about 1 p.m. and booked on suspicion of felony hit-and-run resulting in death, with bail set at $50,000, according to the Redondo Beach Police Department.
She is suspected in the death of Angelina Calderon Pinedo, who had just finished her junior year at San Francisco State, where she was studying to become a social worker, according to her family.
Police said Pinedo was crossing Aviation Boulevard at the intersection of Grant Avenue around 9:05 p.m. Saturday when she was struck by a vehicle being driven south on Aviation. After striking the woman, the driver continued south on Aviation, police said.
Although she lived with family in Rosemead, Pinedo was in Redondo Beach over the weekend visiting one of her sisters, relatives said.
Police located the involved vehicle, which had damage that made it inoperable, about 8:20 a.m. Sunday in a residential area not far from the scene of the collision. Police earlier described the vehicle as a black Audi Q5 SUV.
Family members said Pinedo’s father was killed by a hit-and-run driver when she was just 2 years old, and her mother died a few years later.
Her sister, Martha Pinedo-Torres, told reporters that Angelina had “the most amazing soul.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she would be here telling me to forgive that person (who hit her),” she said.
Relatives and friends gathered Sunday afternoon for a prayer vigil at the intersection where she died. On Monday, passersby — including some who did not know Pinedo — stopped at the location to pay their respects or add flowers to a growing memorial.