A 20-year-old woman charged with driving impaired allegedly struck and killed an LSU student and her firefighter fiancé as the young couple walked along a Baton Rouge road early Sunday.
Leah Fonte and Shane Hirstius, both 21 and high school sweethearts engaged to be married, were walking on the right shoulder when a vehicle veered off the road and hit them around 2:40 a.m., officials said. Fonte died at the scene. Hirstius was taken to a hospital, where he later died.
Fox News reported that Baton Rouge Police Department officers arrested Mia Dawson, 20, in connection with the crash. She faces charges of operating while impaired, reckless operation of a vehicle, hit-and-run driving, vehicular homicide, and vehicular negligent injuring.
Fonte was a senior at Louisiana State University studying biological sciences. Hirstius served as a volunteer firefighter with the River Ridge Volunteer Fire Department. Police identified the pair after the early-morning strike on the roadside in Baton Rouge.
The fire department remembered Hirstius as more than a colleague.
River Ridge Volunteer Fire Department said in a Facebook post:
"Shane was much more than a firefighter. He was a person with an enormous heart, an unforgettable smile, and a genuine passion for helping others."
The department added that he gave full effort to his duties.
"He gave 110% of himself to his responsibilities as a first responder, always willing to step forward when someone needed help. His dedication, compassion, and commitment to serving others represented the very best of what it means to be a firefighter,"
LSU president Wade Rousse issued condolences on behalf of the university system.
"On behalf of the LSU System and all nine of the institutions that make up our LSU family, we send sincere condolences to the Fonte family as they learn of Leah's passing,"
Rousse also said the school was praying for those she loved in mourning.
Officials said Dawson veered off the road and struck Fonte and Hirstius while they walked on the right shoulder. Police listed operating while impaired among the charges, along with reckless operation, hit-and-run driving, vehicular homicide, and vehicular negligent injuring.
The specific roadway name was not released in the initial report. No blood-alcohol results, motive, or further court status beyond the arrest and charge list appeared in that account. What is clear is the outcome: two 21-year-olds dead, and a 20-year-old driver in custody on serious felony counts tied to impairment and leaving the scene.
Volunteer firefighters put themselves at risk for strangers. College seniors build futures one semester at a time. Neither should end on a road shoulder because someone got behind the wheel impaired and failed to stay on the pavement.
Law-and-order communities expect drivers to stay sober, stay on the road, and own the wreckage when they do not. Anything less leaves families burying their kids while the rest of us count the cost.
