More than 200 University of Tampa students attended a vigil Monday, Nov. 23 in remembrance of Erik Nicoletti, the junior killed in the Nov. 21 hit-and-run accident.
Nicoletti, 20, and his friend, Cree Alisha Riley, 19, who was visiting from PA., were walking back from the Metro Mart on Saturday, Nov. 21 around 1:15 a.m. when a beige Chrysler jumped the curb at Kennedy Boulevard and North Boulevard, hitting Nicoletti and Riley.
The driver, Andres Trujillo, 27, fled the scene and abandoned his car in a ditch on the corner of Lambright St. and Dale Mabry Highway. Trujillo turned himself in to police Sunday night after pressure from his family. He told police he reached down to pick up a dropped cigarette, thought he hit a small vehicle or motorcycle and panicked. Trujillo remains in police custody and has been charged with leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury.
Nicoletti was declared brain dead at Tampa General Hospital Sunday and taken off life support shortly after. Riley remains hospitalized.
Nicoletti, a film and media arts student, came to UT in 2007 after graduating from North Salem High School in NY.
According to Nicoletti’s adviser, communication professor Tom Garrett, Nicoletti wanted to be a director.
Last semester, he was enrolled in Garrett’s “Cannes class.” After the course, the group of students flew to France to go to the Cannes Film Festival.
“He wanted to be a director, but also respected the whole business side of film-making,” said Garrett. “He was aware of selling films. That’s part of the reason why I reached out to him going to Cannes.”
Garrett said he and the group of students who traveled to the festival became close during the trip.
“On that trip, we all got really tight,” said Garrett. “It was the first time I got to spend a lot of time with him. Even my wife grew to adore Erik.”
Garrett said that during the trip, Nicoletti had the opportunity to go to the premiere screening of Inglourious Basterds and was a lead escort for big directors such as Eli Roth and Francis Ford Coppola.
Nicoletti received some exciting attention on the trip. Garrett said a world-renowned photographer who was shooting for Lifestyle cast Erik. The same photographer is scheduled to visit UT in December and had requested Nicoletti be one of his models.
Garrett said both he and his wife were devastated when they heard the news of the incident.
“This wasn’t an instance where I could say, ‘Well, they shouldn’t have been out there,’” he said.
“Because I can’t. He wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
Garrett described Nicoletti as, “a good kid” who was respectful and humble.
“Erik was selfless,” Garrett said. “He was laid-back and cool, but at the same time there was this glow about him.”
Garrett’s favorite memory of Nicoletti is from their last day at Cannes.
“The rest of the group returned home the 26th, but my wife, Erik and a few others had to fly out a day early,” he said. “We were supposed to meet at a bus station at 5 a.m. Erik wasn’t there. So I made a few calls and we had to pay hundreds of dollars just to get him there, only to find out he was helping other people get transportation from the hotel.”
Nicoletti’s friends at UT said they were proud to know him.
Matt Drouin, a close friend of Nicoletti, said he met him their freshman year on the ninth floor of Austin Hall, where they lived. Drouin says there were a group of people from that floor that became close and have stayed good friends.
He said one of his best memories with Nicoletti was their first Gasparilla experience.
Drouin didn’t see as much of Nicoletti sophomore year because they lived in different residence halls, but this year, since both lived in Rescom, they “hung out on a daily basis.”
He recalled playing Guitar Hero and Call of Duty at 3 a.m. with Nicoletti and their friends.
“No matter what he did, he could never piss me off,” Drouin said. “Every day he always put a smile on my face. He always put me in a better mood.”
Drouin described Nicoletti as a “fun-loving,” positive and caring person.
“You could always talk to him,” he said. “He was someone you called if you ever needed a favor… He’d be more than happy to do it.”
Drouin said the accident was a shame, especially since his friend had such a bright future ahead of him.
“His future was looking really good,” Drouin said, adding that Nicoletti was doing well in his communication major. Drouin said he also believed Nicoletti may have just been accepted for an internship he’d been hoping to get.
“Things were going really well for him, that’s why it’s such a shame such a successful life was taken away.”
Chris Sacchinelli, another close friend who met Nicoletti in Austin Hall, said Nicoletti was a great person and someone who was always fun to be around.
“He 100 percent enjoyed life,” said Sacchinelli. “He was only here for 20 years, but he enjoyed them more than anyone else I know.”
Sacchinelli said Nicoletti was always around to cheer him up.
“He’s someone you wanted around for good times or bad times,” he said.
One of Sacchinelli’s memories of Nicoletti include talking with him outside Austin hall during their freshman year.
“He was the type of kid who was genuinely interested in the other person,” Sacchinelli said of his friend. “He cared what you had to say.”
Sacchinelli said it’s important Nicoletti’s friends remember him.
“Erik was a person you genuinely would want to say was your friend,” Sacchinelli said. “He was a really good person.”
Nicoletti’s roommate, James Peter, who has lived with him since their freshman year, hasn’t been able to grasp what has happened.
“It isn’t real,” he said. “Erik has taught me to follow your heart, no matter where logic leads you.”
Peter remembered Nicoletti fondly in his “Hugh Hefner robe,” a bathrobe Nicoletti always wore, smoking his Marlboro 27s.
“Rarely has there been a dull moment,” Peter said.
Alyssa Salagha, another friend who had known Nicoletti from Austin hall, also remembered how he would always follow his heart. She also recalled good times she had with her friend.
“I can’t look back and think of one bad moment with Erik,” Salagha said. “Every time I reminisce I’m always smiling or laughing.”
The Nov. 23 vigil was held at 8:30 p.m. in the Vaughn Center Courtyard. Nicoletti’s family was present.
“We are gathered here to mourn a precious heart which passed too soon,” Stephanie Russell Holz, associate dean of students, said at the vigil.
After the vigil, some students walked over to North Boulevard and Kennedy Boulevard to place flowers at the site of the accident.
Flowers and a picture poster of Nicoletti have also been placed outside his Rescom room door.
Dozens of comments from friends and family members continue to fill pages of the Facebook group, “Remember Erik Nicoletti.”
A wake was held for Nicoletti at Clark Associates Funeral Home in NY on Friday, Nov. 27. His funeral was held the next day at St. Patrick’s Church in Yorktown Heights.
“He surely will be missed,” Garrett said.
Mel Steiner, Jeffrey Palmer and Lauren Martinez contributed reporting to this article.