Fatal crash victim was Purdue student, music lover, outgoing-introvert
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Twenty-four-year-old Sara Brown died from trauma to her head and neck that she suffered in Friday's fatal car accident on Robinson Street near Dehart Street, according to Monday's preliminary autopsy results.
Tippecanoe County Coroner Carrie Costello released the findings late Monday morning, and she also positively identified Brown, who was a Purdue University grad student.
"We lost one of our brightest," Brown's friend, Dean MacDonald Jr., posted Saturday on Facebook.
Brown and MacDonald graduated together from Greene County Tech High School, where they both were in choir. MacDonald and Brown also attended Arkansas State University, where Brown earned a bachelor's degree in psychology.
"Sara Brown, our valedictorian, was tragically killed in a car accident (Friday) afternoon in Indiana," MacDonald said.
"Sara was a tremendous gift to everyone she talked to," MacDonald wrote. "An absurdly talented and funny person."
Brown found friends everywhere she went, said Noe Padilla, a Journal & Courier reporter who was friends with Brown.
"She always joked she was an introvert and didn't make friends," Padilla said, remembering Brown as an outgoing introvert — seemingly a dichotomous personality. "She had so many friends."
"She loved music," Padilla said. "This whole summer, she went to a total of 10 shows."
"She said she was afraid to try new things, but if it had to do with music, she'd do it," Padilla said, recalling how Brown boldly headed on a solo trip to the Iowa State Fair to catch The Black Keys, an alternative/Indie rock band.
Brown was heading out of town Friday afternoon to the Evolution Festival in St. Louis, Mo., Padilla said.
As she drove south on Robinson Street, she lost control of her car, striking a parked car about 4:20 p.m. Friday near Dehart Street, police said.
The impact of that collision sent her car into the northbound lane and into the path of a semi driven by Carlos Gutierrez, 28, of Haines City, Florida, police said.
Brown died at the scene, police said. Gutierrez was not injured.
"She would travel across the country as a music journalist," MacDonald said. "She interviewed several prominent musicians and attended countless concerts. She was a prolific writer, and she had a great podcast on Spotify where she would feature her favorite tracks from a variety of genres."
Brown earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Arkansas State University, according to her friends in West Lafayette and MacDonald's post. She was in her second year of working on a master's degree in the Human Development and Family Studies program at Purdue University.
Brown was from Paragould, Arkansas, and graduated from high school there in 2017, her West Lafayette friends and MacDonald said.
The Robinson and Dehart streets were closed Friday while officers and the coroner's office investigated the crash.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Crash victim was Purdue student, music lover, outgoing-introvert
