TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

A 16-year-old girl who a family member said was determined "to get her life going" was killed Tuesday morning when she was hit by a motor vehicle while walking to school, Bakersfield police said.

Victoria Rose Peterson was struck at about 8:10 a.m. while she was traveling northeast on a private road near Bakersfield Heart Hospital, police said.

The teen was found in the roadway, Sgt. Mary DeGeare said. She was pronounced dead at 8:53 a.m. after being taken into the hospital, which is located on Sillect Avenue near the intersection of Highway 99 and Rosedale Highway.

Peterson was likely walking from a Golden Empire Transit bus stop near the intersection of 24th and Oak streets to Sillect Community School, an alternative education facility operated by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools office. About one mile separates the bus stop and the school.

"She enjoyed the walk because it was good exercise," said Melanie Hines, Victoria's aunt. "It's devastating. It's a life cut short way too soon. ... It ended too tragically."

Peterson, formerly a student at Frontier High School, was in 11th grade and had only attended the Sillect campus for the last few weeks, said Jeanne Hughes, a KCSOS administrator.

Administrators at Frontier could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Mental health counselors will be available to the approximately 200 Sillect students Wednesday, Hughes said.

"She was coming to school to get extra tutoring and making excellent progress," Hughes said. "She definitely had the right attitude."

Hines said Victoria was living with her grandparents, Carl and Nancy Peterson, and that Carl drove her to the stop where she boards the bus Tuesday morning.

Victoria was a "normal teenager" who enjoyed drawing, painting and learning guitar, Hines said. She wanted to work in a hospital as a nursing assistant.

"She was trying real hard to graduate," Hines said. "She wanted to help people. She was very determined right now to get her life going and make something of herself."

Victoria also worked as an actor in last year's Talladega Frights haunted house, cast coordinator Dana Martin said.

Martin said Victoria, who had lived in a foster home before being taken in by her grandparents, was dependable and easy-going.

"There was never a role she wouldn't do," Martin said. "When she did any role, she did it as if she was born to do it. She never came out of character. She was all business."

Anthony Ribeiro, a childhood friend who had recently reconnected with Victoria, described her as fun and outgoing.

"We grew up as babies together," he said. "We were always by each other's side. My mom has photo albums of me and her together."

Authorities are searching for a Hispanic woman with black hair driving a white four-door Chevrolet Silverado truck who they believe is connected to the incident. The truck was also traveling northeast on the private road, DeGeare said.

Potential charges range from felony hit-and-run to murder, DeGeare said. Police have not yet determined whether the incident was intentional or accidental.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Bakersfield Police Department at 327-7111.

"It's frustrating that someone would drive away and leave her like that," Hines said. "It's pretty awful.

"We're hoping they turn themselves in. ... Our family is not gonna hold a grudge. We just want this person to do what's right."

Peterson's death follows a number of other hit-and-run incidents involving minors in Bakersfield in recent months.

Two teenagers suffered moderate injuries when they were hit by a car while legally crossing Rosedale Highway in November. Two other children were hospitalized Jan. 11 after a hit-and-run near the intersection of Stine and McKee roads.