The Foothill High School community in Pleasanton is grieving the loss one of its students to a fatal vehicle crash earlier this month.

Daniel Hernandez Alvarado, 17, from Pleasanton was killed when the BMW 535i he was driving struck a tree on Del Valle Road south of Mendenhall Road in Livermore on the evening on Jan. 4, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The Alameda County Coroner confirmed Alvarado as the victim this week.

A GoFundMe page set up for Alvarado’s family days after his death had raised close to $6,800 as of Wednesday evening. The accompanying post describes him as a student at Foothill High School.

“Daniel was a bright and kind-hearted young man whose life was taken far too soon. He touched the lives of many with his contagious smile, compassionate nature, and incredible potential,” the post read.

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.