Top 10 Stories: Sho Funai Dies in Hit-Run

It's been a crazy year. Palos Verdes Patch writers were busy writing about vandalism at the local high school, a missing diver and panga landings, among other topics. Here is the No. 6 story of the year, chosen by popularity and editorial discretion.

Former RPV Resident Dies in Hit-and-Run Collision (No. 6)

The death of a former Rancho Palos Verdes resident living in San Diego outraged friends and family on the peninsula.

Twenty-three-year-old Sho Funai was hit while walking on the shoulder of Interstate 8 in the Ocean Beach area of San Diego on March 11. Nikolette Kristina Gallo, 18, told investigators that she hit what she thought was a discarded sofa while on her way home. She said she had been drinking, and her car had damage to the front end.

"You are going to jail because you fled the scene," San Diego Superior Court Judge Dwayne Moring told Gallo when he sentenced her to a year in county jail July 27. "I want the public to know that if you flee the scene of an accident, you will receive custody."

Previously, friends and family who thought Gallo might have been sentenced to probation started a petition for a stricter punishment.

"The world lost one of the best that day; my brother Sho was as good as they come," older brother Daisuke Funai wrote on change.org. "The 350 friends and family who attended his funeral spoke with grief, as well as fondness and appreciation for all that he had done in his short time with us."

More than 13,000 people signed the online petition.

Related:

• Former Rancho Palos Verdes Resident Killed in Hit-and-Run Accident
• Friends Remember Former PV High Student Killed in Hit-and-Run Crash
• Is Probation a Fair Sentence for Hit-and-Run Driver?
• Driver Sentenced in Hit-Run of RPV Man

For more top stories from this year, click here.