Garrett Nicholas, 21, was struck early Sunday on South High Street near Union Street, police said, and no charges had been announced by Tuesday night.
WEST CHESTER, PA — A West Chester University student was struck and killed by a vehicle early Sunday near his fraternity house just off campus, and police said Tuesday that the investigation was still active with no charges announced.
Garrett Nicholas, 21, was a junior at the university and a member of Pi Kappa Alpha. His death quickly became a campus-wide story of grief, with students gathering outside the fraternity house, flowers piling up near the crash site and classmates describing a young man they said had an unusual ability to lift people around him. The case also left key questions unanswered, including whether anyone will face charges and what investigators conclude about the seconds before the collision.
West Chester police said officers were dispatched at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday to the 300 block of South High Street for a crash involving a pedestrian. Authorities said Nicholas was crossing South High Street at Union Street when a car traveling on High Street hit him. He was thrown about 70 feet, according to police accounts carried by local media, and taken to Paoli Hospital, where he died several hours later. Jimmy Kane, Nicholas’ roommate and the president of the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter, told local television reporters he heard the crash before realizing what had happened. “I heard it happen, but you don’t think,” Kane said, later describing the shock of returning to the scene and finding Nicholas still there.
Police have publicly said the driver stopped about a block away and is cooperating with the investigation. Authorities also said there were at least two other people inside the vehicle. West Chester Police Chief Joshua Lee offered condolences and said fatal crashes are among the hardest calls officers handle. By late Sunday and through Monday, detectives were still working the scene and gathering evidence, according to local reports. Officials have not publicly identified the driver, released the vehicle description in detail or said whether speed, impairment, visibility, crosswalk placement or other factors played a role. As of Tuesday evening, police had not announced an arrest, and news outlets that contacted borough police and the Chester County District Attorney’s Office reported no public update on potential charges.
West Chester University confirmed the death in a message to campus from Jasmine H. Buxton, the vice president for student affairs, who said the university was deeply saddened and grieving with Nicholas’ family, friends and others who knew him. Nicholas was studying business management and supply chain management, according to his family. His mother, Traci Conrad Hafner, told CBS Philadelphia that he hoped one day to take over his father’s concrete cutting business. Friends described him in strikingly similar terms across interviews: upbeat, funny, energetic and difficult to forget. Several students said the loss rippled far beyond one friend group because Nicholas was known across campus social circles and within the fraternity community.
The crash happened in a busy campus-area corridor where student foot traffic remains heavy late into the night, especially on weekends. That reality gave the death added weight in West Chester, where the university and borough are closely linked and off-campus housing, fraternity properties and local nightlife sit near one another. By Sunday and Monday, classmates had created a memorial outside the Pi Kappa Alpha house, leaving bouquets, handwritten notes and other tributes. More than 100 fraternity brothers gathered at the hospital in support, according to a fundraiser description shared by Kane and cited by several outlets. The family also said Nicholas was an organ donor, adding another layer of meaning to how loved ones have spoken about his generosity.
What comes next is mostly procedural, and much of it depends on findings police have not yet made public. Investigators still must determine whether any traffic offenses or criminal charges are warranted and whether the case will be reviewed for action by prosecutors. Police have already identified the driver, but investigators have not said when they expect to finish reconstructing the crash or release a fuller account. The fraternity has been planning a celebration of life, though public details were still being worked out in early reports. Nicholas’ family has also said they want to create a scholarship in his name, while friends have begun repeating a phrase that surfaced at the memorial and in interviews: “Be like Garrett.”
The memorial scene outside the house became a place for both mourning and storytelling. Students embraced on the sidewalk, stopped to read notes and recalled small details they said captured Nicholas best. Justin Shayew, a junior who lived with him, called him “the happiest,” while Logan Brown remembered him as “always laughing” and “always dancing.” Kane said it was hard to be in a bad mood around him and told reporters Nicholas was someone who “gave you hope.” Mya Sinwell, a sophomore, said the sudden death left students carrying “a super dark and heavy weight.” Those remarks did not answer the open questions around the crash, but they helped explain why the loss landed so hard across campus.
As of Tuesday, April 14, Nicholas’ death remained under investigation, no charges had been publicly announced and the next major milestone was any formal update from West Chester police or prosecutors on what investigators found.
Author note: Last updated April 14, 2026.