Chapel of the Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut during summer day

HARTFORD — A 20-year-old Trinity College student who was killed in a hit-and-run crash last week was remembered as a role model who worked hard and cared passionately for others.

Jillian Hegarty, of St. Johnsbury, Vt., died Thursday night after she was struck by a vehicle while walking through the intersection of New Britain Avenue and Henry Street, according to police.

At a vigil held at Trinity’s campus chapel on Friday, Hegarty was mourned by dozens or her fellow students and by members of the school’s faculty, according to Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Trinity’s president.

“Jillian Hegarty was special,” Berger-Sweeney wrote in a statement. “And to lose her—a student, a classmate, a daughter, a teammate, a friend—at such a young age and in such a tragic fashion is heartbreaking. There is no other way to describe it.”

Before enrolling at Trinity, Hegarty was a student at St. Johnsbury Academy, an independent school in northern Vermont.

According to Sharon Howell, the academy’s headmaster, Hegarty was a member of SJA’s student government, a student orientation leader, a community service volunteer, an athlete, a camp counselor and a talented dancer. In a statement, Howell described her as a “perfect role model.”

“In her free time she worked at a local restaurant greeting those in our community and welcoming visitors to the area,” Howell said. “She was known for her smile and her great sense of humor. Anyone who knew Jillian loved her, and her loss is devastating.”

Joe Fox, the director of the St. Johnsbury Recreation Department, which runs a summer camp for local youth, remembered Hegarty as “simply one of the best camp counselors ever.”

“We watched Jillian grow and blossom into a beautiful young woman with limitless possibilities for her future,” he wrote in a statement.

The hit-and-run took place outside a Trinity dorm just after 11:30 p.m., according to police. Two other students were injured in the collision and taken to the hospital: a 20-year-old who was released after she was treated for minor injuries and a 19-year-old woman who was initially reported to be in critical, but stable condition.

The vehicle involved in the crash, a gray Volkswagen Touareg, was located in New Haven on Friday. But police have not announced any arrests in connection to the fatal incident. A department spokesperson did not return a request for comment Sunday.

Back home in Vermont, Hegarty’s friends and neighbors are working to honor the college student. Locally Social Coffee, a St. Johnsbury cafe that Hegarty frequented, announced this weekend it would award a scholarship to high school students in Hegarty’s honor.

Kingdom Taproom, a popular St. Johnsbury restaurant where Hegarty once worked, called her “one of our strongest and best servers.”

“She always had a smile on, her attitude was exemplary, her work ethic was beyond compare, and her maturity was beyond her years,” the restaurant wrote in a Facebook post. “Jillian, you are a model we will always hold up as the standard for what it is to put your all into everything you do. You brought a light into the room as soon as you entered it and your absence will truly be felt.”