Friends Remember Former PV High Student Killed in Hit-and-Run Crash

A former Rancho Palos Verdes resident and alumnus killed in a hit-and-run accident last weekend was remembered as "a smart and driven engineer who had fun coaching and playing football," according to a U-T San Diego report.

23-year-old Sho Funai's body was found March 11 along Interstate 8 in the Ocean Beach area by a passerby.

An 18-year-old woman who allegedly got behind the wheel after drinking alcohol was arrested in the wake of the accident, a California Highway Patrol spokesman reported Monday.

Nikolette Kristina Gallo, of Rancho Penasquitos, was taken into custody nearly eight hours after Funai's body was found alongside the freeway, CHP public-affairs Officer Art Athans said.

A UC San Diego graduate student, Funai is also listed on some social media sites as a former coach for PV High's junior varsity football team.

One high school classmate said Funai “was one of the inspirations to most of the team and players because he was so small,” according to the U-T San Diego report. 

“He just never gave up,” Thomas told U-T San Diego.

Read the full report here.

—City News Service contributed to this report.