Graduate engineering student Sho Funai was killed Sunday, March 11 in a hit-and-run accident while walking in Ocean Beach. Funai was 23 years old.

According to the San Diego Union Tribune, Funai was walking on the right shoulder of the eastbound Interstate 8 by the Nimitz onramp when he was hit at around 4:30 a.m. . Authorities have not said why Funai was walking on the Interstate at that time.

The driver, later identified as 18-year-old Mesa College student Nikolette Gallo, was arrested Sunday, March 11 after turning herself into authorities. Gallo was quoted in the San Diego Union Tribune as stating that she had thought that hit a sofa. ABC News reported that Gallo was released Tuesday, March 20 after posting a $50,000 bail. 

Gallo will have a preliminary hearing in May. If convicted of vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run, Gall faces probation to four years in prison.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Funai, who is originally from Palos Verdes, received his undergraduate degree in structural engineering from UCSD in 2010 and was expected to receive his M.S. in structural engineering this year. He had been working as an associate engineer at Goodrich Aerostructures in Chula Vista in January 2012, and had previously been a graduate student researcher at UCSD studying the impact of hail ice on composite structures.
 
Funeral services for Funai were held Saturday, March 17 at Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles.