SAN DIEGO (KGTV) \u2014 The Pacific Beach community gathered Tuesday to remember Hudson O’Loughlin, a 6-year-old boy killed in a hit-and-run crash last month while riding his bike with his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cMay his kindness live on in every life he touched. May we all learn to slow down for Hudson,” his mother, Juliana Kapovich, said during a memorial at Crown Point Elementary School.<\/p>\n
Hudson, described as a light by his family, shined over the brief service, with several members of the community gathered in his honor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are forever grateful to this community for surrounding our family with love as we walk through the most painful season of our lives,” Kapovich said.<\/p>\n
Tuesday marked 17 days since 6-year-old Hudson was hit and killed<\/a> while riding his bike. His aunt, Nicole O’Loughlin, sharing how the lighthearted day quickly turned tragic.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were out for a family bike ride,” she told ABC 10News. “3 o\u2019clock in the afternoon. They were on their way home. Less than two blocks from home. This shouldn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Hudson was hit by a driver in an alley on Pacific Beach Drive just west of Ingraham Avenue. Hudson died, but the driver left the scene.<\/p>\n The suspected woman behind the wheel, Tiffany Sanchez, was arrested at her home in National City a few hours later.<\/p>\n The legal team for Hudson’s family said Sanchez’s license had been suspended since 2017.<\/p>\n After the service at Crown Point Elementary, the group walked two blocks together holding orange and blue pinwheels \u2014 Hudson’s favorite colors \u2014 to the crash site to place a ghost bike.<\/p>\n Ghost bikes are white-painted bicycles placed as roadside memorials to honor cyclists killed in traffic accidents.<\/p>\n “We place this bike not only in memory of our precious boy, but as a call for change. No family should lose a child this way,” Kapovich said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pain that his family\u2019s going through right now is just indescribable,” added Laura Keenan. “I mean, losing someone to a preventable crash is just so unfair. Hudson\u2019s missing out on so much.\u201d<\/p>\n If anyone knows what the family is feeling, it’s Keenan.<\/p>\n Her husband was hit and killed by a wrong-way driver while riding his bike on Camino Del Rio South in 2021.<\/p>\n Now, she’s the co-founder of Families for Safe Streets San Diego.<\/p>\n Keenan turned her pain into purpose<\/a> and hopes Hudson’s death can do the same.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of tools out there, but we really need our city to take this seriously,” Keenan said.<\/p>\n She, alongside leaders from other organizations in attendance Tuesday \u2014 BeautifulPB, San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, Circulate San Diego and BikeSD \u2014 have a renewed call for safer streets, slower roads and greater care for cyclists.<\/p>\n There’s also a petition<\/a> pushing the District Attorney to “pursue charges that reflect the horrific nature of the crime.”<\/p>\n The driver accused in the crash has been charged with hit-and-run, vehicular manslaughter, and driving without a license. She pleaded not guilty last week and is currently out on bail.<\/p>\n A funeral for Hudson is scheduled for family and close friends Wednesday afternoon. A GoFundMe supporting his family can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow ABC 10News Anchor Max Goldwasser on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n