Chesterman was lovingly known by her friends and neighbors as Tina. Dozens of people attended a vigil outside her parent's Livermore home.
"I'm not mad, I'm just sad, it's a big loss for my family, a big loss for, you know, last night we had a candlelight vigil here and you can see everyone she touched here," Chesterman's cousin Stephanie Cornett said.
Police say Chesterman was returning home after studying at the Chico State library when she was hit by a very intoxicated 19-year-old Riley Hoover.
Chesterman's friend Rachael Nuno said they had been studying together for hours. Chesterman was a nursing student.
"She was the best; she would have made a amazing nurse, just caring, loving, hardworking," Nuno said.
Chesterman's parents issued a statement through the hospital saying, "It is incomprehensible that the reckless act of a falling-down drunk could cut short the life of a beautiful, talented person who had so much to contribute to our world."
Her parents have decided to donate her organs.
"There is really no rhyme or reason; there is anger, frustration that someone like her was taken from all of us," neighbor Roxanne Whitehurst said.
The family had gone through another tragedy back in February when Chesterman's brother was badly beaten at Chico while he was visiting her. About a month ago, Chesterman and her mother were interviewed after the man who punched her brother was finally convicted.
The family is now asking that the man police say killed their daughter receive the most severe sentence if he is found guilty.
