Manriquez, known to friends and colleagues as Luci, was living in San Jose while attending SCU, where she had just finished her second year of law school. Santa Clara University President Michael E. Engh posted a message on the law school’s Facebook page, saying, "We join with Luci’s family and friends in prayer and offer consolation amidst the pain of great loss."

 

Manriquez worked for the Northern California Innocence Project, said fellow law student and close friend Clare McKay. "She wanted to work for activist organizations to affect change," said McKay, who met Manriquez when the two were first-year law students.

"For a small person, she had a huge personality; she could make anybody laugh, and she had her own style," McKay recalled. "She was very tough but always very kind. She would tell you like it is, but be very respectful. She would never, ever judge anybody." The two women became best friends.

"She had the most wonderful, distinct laugh," McKay said. "She was laughing often. Luci really loved bad horror movies. She had a tattoo of a chain saw and the face of a famous horror movie actor. She was also influenced by her Mexican heritage," sporting a Dia de Muertos skull tattoo, McKay said.

"Everybody loved Luci."

 

Engh said, "As a community that supports its members in times of joy and in times of sorrow, we join with Luci’s family and friends in prayer and offer consolation amidst the pain of great loss. May the peace that Luci will find among the saints turn the pain of loss into a sense of peace for her family and all who grieve for her. Please keep Luci and her family in your prayers."