CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The day after a tragic hit-and-run in Morgantown, Brent Sears and Julia Skaggs Sears remembered their 20-year-old daughter Carli as a young woman who could brighten anyone’s day.
“She was very entertaining,” her mother told WSAZ-TV. “She was always lip-syncing and amusing. She was someone everybody loved. She was a little bear. She didn’t have to be the best at everything but she got out there and played (soccer), swam, danced, played lacrosse.”
Recalling Carli’s sense of humor, her father warned parents against taking time with their children for granted.
“She brought a smile to the room wherever she went, whatever she did,” Brent Sears said. “Love them as much as you can, because it can be gone in a nanosecond.”
On Monday, West Virginia University student Alex Hambrick, 19, of Winfield, turned himself in and was charged with hit-and-run causing death. Sears’ mom said Hambrick also must grieve through the consequences.
“This is something he’s going to have to live with the rest of his life, as all of us are,” she said.
More than 50 of Sears’ college classmates were expected to travel from campus in Oxford, Miss., to Kanawha County for the services and funeral.
“God plucked an angel for whatever reason,” said Sears’ mom. “We’ll never know the answer. She was my little baby bear and always will be.”
Visitation services are set for Thursday from 5-7 p.m. at Snodgrass Funeral Home in South Charleston. The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at First Presbyterian Church in Charleston.