A UH student died Saturday night after he was hit by an alleged drunk driver according to the Houston Chronicle.
Mark Tartaglio was walking his girlfriend, Corina Burnett, home from a Greek sorority date party outside of Bayou Oaks on Calhoun Road when they were struck by a white pickup after the driver veered into the opposite lane to get ahead of another car Friday morning.
The students were taken to Memorial Hermann where Tartaglio later died.
Tartaglio was a construction management sophomore at UH and a member of Kappa Alpha. A GoFundMe page was created to cover the medical expenses for the students, and has raised $20,000 in just three days.
The page describes the pair as “some of the kindest, most caring people you’ll ever meet, and in anyone’s time of need they are always just a phone call away.”
The driver of the pickup, Marshall Schoen, was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and is still in police custody.
Schoen, a UH student and a member of Pi Kappa Phi, was charged with intoxicated assault with a a vehicle. In November he was charged with driving with an invalid license but his case was forfeited after he failed to appear in court. His bail is set at $30,000.
Friends of the couple have posted all over social media accounts expressing their concern and love for the students. Kaitlin Santibanez, a psychology student, summed up the responses when she posted on her Facebook Saturday afternoon.
“Lives have been forever changed. Drinking and driving is something everyone can avoid. Please let Mark be a symbol for a lesson learned to all of us. He was kind and sweet and always smiling.”
