As day turned into night Thursday, hundreds of people lined Amherst's closed Heim Road at the site of the death of Alexandria "Alix" Rice to remember a life cut short too soon.
As Casey and Jennifer Langendorfer sang Carrie Underwood's "See You Again," Heim was lined with people holding candles in memory of the young woman killed just over a year ago by drunken driver James Corasanti as she came home from work on her long board.
The site has been transformed into an informal memorial to Alix Rice with a sign, flowers and recollections marked on a roadside barrier.
It was a community effort, including a mosque on Heim letting the parking lot be used on one of the nights of Ramadan to help those at the vigil. Amherst Police closed off the road.
There were people in attendance who knew the young woman from Williamsville North High School and there were others who knew her by reputation and others who were there just to support her family in a continuing time of tragedy.
Timothy Strait was a close friend of Rice and a participant in an activity she loved -- karaoke. Strait says he was just holding it together.
"I feel like I'm 1,000 miles away from myself right now. I'm looking at all these wonderful pieces of memorabilia and all these amazing thoughts and memories that people have put through," Strait said.
Tammy Anna says she didn't know Alix but wanted to support her family for a woman who died too young.
" Coming home from work on her long board and she gets hit by a drunk driver. Very unfair, unfortunate, sad," Anna said
