Good Samaritan Who Fell to Her Death Wanted to Be Social Worker

A 34-year-old Connecticut woman fell to her death while trying to help two victims of a hit-and-run on Interstate 91 in New Haven early Thursday morning.

Lauren Mohr had just finished her shift at Barcelona in New Haven and was driving on I-91 North near exit 7 around 12:30 a.m. when she witnessed a hit-and-run, so she pulled over, called 911 and was waiting with the victims for help to arrive, according to family members.

While waiting for help to arrive, Mohr jumped to get out of the way because she thought a car was coming, fell over a concrete wall and off the bridge, landing about 40 feet below, state police said. The Wallingford resident was pronounced dead at Yale-New Haven Hospital. 

Lauren was the daughter of Lawrence Mohr and the step-daughter of Quinnipiac University vice president of admissions Joan Mohr.

“Lauren was courageous and optimistic, and had faced a lot of challenges in her life, which made her a caring and wise person. Friends and family would seek her advice and she will be remembered as our hero,” Lawrence Mohr said in a statement issued by Quinnipiac.

Lauren also worked as a temporary aide in the undergraduate admissions office at Quinnipiac.

“The university community was saddened to learn of the death of Lauren Mohr,” Lynn Bushnell, vice president for public affairs at Quinnipiac, said in a statement. “The university would like to extend its sincerest condolences to the Mohr family and ask that you continue to keep Lauren’s family and her many friends in your thoughts and prayers.”

Prior to working at Quinnipiac, Lauren served in the Air Force for four years and trained as a medical technician, according to Quinnipiac University.

She was a graduate of Sheehan High School in Wallingford and recently received her associate's degree in social work from Middlesex Community College. In the fall, Lauren had planned to continue studying social work at Southern Connecticut State University.

Lauren is survived by her sister, Arwen, brother-in-law Nate, 4-year-old nephew Cole and 1-and-a-half-year-old niece Eowyn, of Martinez, California, her mother, Diana, in Martland, and her beloved cat, Bucky.

Her family has contacted the New England organ donor bureau to donate her organs. Funeral plans have not been finalized.

State police are investigating and said in a news release that Elvin Ayala, 33, of Branford, hit the car driven by Elizabeth Anne Kranz, 25, of Brooklyn, New York, on I-91 North near exit 8. Ayala fled the scene, police said.

Ayala was charged with evading responsibility, operating while under suspension and following too closely, according to a news release from state police. East Haven police towed his vehicle, and Kranz's car was also towed from the scene.

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