18-year-old UNLV student killed in suspected DUI crash

By Mary Manning, Jean Reid Norman

Published Monday, April 20, 2009 | 1:57 p.m.

Updated Monday, April 20, 2009 | 6:41 p.m.

UPDATED STORY: Hundreds mourn Rebel Girl killed in I-215 crash

An 18-year-old UNLV student has died from injuries suffered late Wednesday in a crash involving a suspected drunken driver.

The Clark County Coroner’s Office identified the student as Lindsay Mychael Bennett of Las Vegas, who died after she was struck by a driver going the wrong way shortly before 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at the 215 Beltway and Windmill Avenue.

The cause of her death was several blunt force trauma injuries from the collision, a spokeswoman for the coroner’s office said. She died of her injuries Friday night, authorities said today.

She would have turned 19 today. Her former teammates from the Coronado High School dance team were spending the evening at her house with her family marking her birthday, dance coach Ginger Rossiter said.

Since the crash Wednesday night, “the girls have stayed very close. They have found comfort in each other and have been kind of staying together all day and all night,” Rossiter said. “They are having a hard time coping, doing the best they can.”

Bennett was captain of the dance team her junior and senior years and received a varsity letter in dance all four years, Rossiter said.

She provided the leadership that helped the team go from barely competitive her junior year to winning a national championship her senior year, Rossiter said.

“She did not accept the failures we had during her junior year,” Rossiter said. “She overcame those with a positive attitude. She was a fighter.”

Bennett graduated with honors in 2008 and went on to UNLV, where she was a Rebel Girl, Rossiter said.

Bennett was majoring in architecture and was always doodling and making cards for her friends, said Jenn Singer, who was friends with Bennett since they were 11.

A vigil in Bennett’s honor is scheduled for Tuesday night at UNLV. Services have been scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 130 N. Pecos Road, in Henderson.

The suspected impaired driver was taken to University Medical Center’s trauma center and released Thursday, said Trooper Kevin Honea of the Nevada Highway Patrol. He has been booked into the Clark County Detention Center, but has not been identified, Honea said.

The investigation into the collision is ongoing.