Union Catholic grad from Clark killed in University of Delaware pedestrian crash

Police in Delaware have identified a pedestrian fatally struck by a motorcycle Tuesday as 18-year-old University of Delaware freshman Noelia Gomez of Clark.

Gomez was studying accounting and business management at UD, according to her LinkedIn profile. She graduated from Union Catholic High School.

UD’s president and vice president issued a statement Wednesday afternoon calling for the school to support one another.

Update: Delaware motorcyclist charged with killing Union Catholic grad from Clark, police say

“Incidents such as this are unimaginably tragic,” President Dennis Assanis and Vice President José-Luis Riera’s said in a statement. “We cannot express enough how sorry we are for the family, friends, and greater community as we are all so deeply shaken by the sudden loss of one of our own. Our hearts are very heavy today.”

Police said the motorcyclist was fleeing a UD police traffic stop just before midnight on Tuesday. The motorcyclist, whom police have not yet identified, “disregarded the police officer’s emergency lights and fled at a high rate of speed.”

As the motorcyclist sped away, they hit Gomez, who was crossing on West Main Street, just west of North College Avenue, in Newark. The driver was ejected, while the motorcycle continued on and hit four more pedestrians, causing non-life-threatening injuries.

The motorcyclist was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. As of Thursday afternoon, no charges have been filed.

Clark Mayor Sal Bonaccorso said the news of Gomez’s death is “devastating.”

“You send your child to college hoping for a great future for them, and then this happens,” said Bonaccorso. “It’s just so sad. How do you even explain it. You wake up in the morning and you don’t know what you’re going to get in the day, you really don’t.”

He said word that Gomez was the victim of the fatal crash was just beginning to spread around the town Thursday afternoon. He was unsure if any type of remembrance was being planned.

Bonaccorso said Gomez was the second Clark resident killed in an auto accident while attending the University of Delaware. In October 2011 Nicole Marzano, 19, soccer team captain and salutatorian of her high school graduating class, was a freshman at the Delaware state school when she was a passenger killed in a car accident in Pennsylvania.

For the past two years Gomez had worked as a part-time sales associate at Anthem style and gift boutique in Cranford. Store owner Corinne Ardente said Gomez left in July to travel before going off to college.

“She was a great worker,” said Ardente, who had heard about the motorcycle crash. “She was very dependable, she always had a great personality and a great disposition.”

Ardente had discussed the possibility of Gomez returning to work at the store during school breaks.

Send story tips or ideas to Hannah Edelman at hedelman@delawareonline.com. For more reporting, follow them on X at @h_edelman.