Tia Wright is missed by her classmates at Pleasant Hills Middle School this year and by her friends in the Thomas Jefferson Youth Cheerleading Association.

Tia, 12, was killed April 5 in a traffic accident in Jefferson Hills caused by a 17-year-old driver who police say was drunk.

But her memory was alive and bright Monday night at the annual candlelight vigil for families and friends of drunken driving victims held by the Pennsylvania Driving Under the Influence Association and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Dozens of family members and friends came to the service in Pleasant Hills Community Presbyterian Church and took turns lighting candles in Tia's honor. It was the same church where Tia's funeral was held.

The service, held for family and friends of drunken driving victims from Western Pennsylvania, was held in Pleasant Hills because of Tia's accident.

Tia was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her father, Karl Wright, when another car collided with the Wrights' vehicle in the 100 block of Gill Hall Road. Tia was pronounced dead at the scene. Her father and Taylor Childers, her best friend, were injured.

Police said the driver who hit the Wright vehicle had been drinking alcohol, speeding and driving recklessly. He has been charged as a juvenile with homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault while driving drunk and a number of summary violations. The case is pending.

At Monday's vigil, 18 middle school girls who were friends of Tia served as the choir and were the first to light candles in Tia's memory.

Then, Tia's father, who is still recovering from his injuries, used a walker to maneuver from the first pew of the church to the microphone.

Wearing a leg brace that held a photo of his daughter, Mr. Wright lit a candle, said his daughter's name into the microphone, then added: "I miss you."

Taylor also lit a candle and her parents, Doug and Michelle Childers, gave a reading.

That was followed by dozens of Tia's family and friends, including her mother, Cheryl, and grandparents, brother and aunts, who each lit a candle and announced Tia's name.

Also in attendance were other friends and family members of drunken driving victims from throughout the area, including a wife who had lost her husband, a mother who had lost her son and a woman who had lost her twin sister. Most of the families, including the Wrights, did not make public statements at the ceremony and declined to comment afterward.

But one family at the vigil chose to speak out in hopes of educating the public about the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Acacia Houck, the sister of state Trooper Kenton Iwaniec, 24, a Ligonier native who was killed March 27 by a driver under the influence of drugs and alcohol, said her family wants the public to know that "an impaired driver is a loaded weapon going down the highway."

Mrs. Houck was at the vigil with her parents, Kenneth and Deborah Iwaniec, of Ligonier, and other family members.

Trooper Iwaniec was killed after he had completed his shift at the Avondale Barracks in Chester County and was heading home about 10:15 p.m. He was about two miles from the barracks when he was hit head-on by a Chevy Tahoe that had crossed the center line of Route 41.

The driver, who recently pleaded guilty to all charges filed against her, had a blood alcohol level of more than four times the legal limit for driving, was under the influence of the drug Oxycodone and was driving 73 mph in a 45 mph zone, according to police reports.

The reports said she did not have her lights on at the time and her 4-year-old son was in the vehicle with her. Neither she nor her son were seriously injured. Trooper Iwaniec died at a hospital two hours after the accident.

Mrs. Houck said the irony of her brother being killed by a drunken driver is that he was always vigilant about reporting or pulling over any driver who appeared to be under the influence. He instructed his family to dial 911 if they saw drivers who were driving erratically.

That's the message the family is now trying to get out to the public.

"We say, 'Call and report it.' You never know how many lives you may be saving by making that call," Mrs. Houck said.

That message was similar to those presented earlier in the ceremony by Sheldon Epstein, commander of the state police Troop B out of Washington County; U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair; and state Sen. John Pippy, R-Moon.

In addition to the family and friends of victims, the vigil was attended by police officers from the DUI task forces in Pittsburgh and the surrounding suburbs.

As part of the vigil, a portable memorial wall bearing the names of DUI victims was brought in by truck and set up across the street from the church.

The wall, which resembles the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., is a miniature version of one in a park along the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg.

Nicole Ruscitto, of Pleasant Hills, who attended Monday's vigil, said she is a member of the MADD group that formed in Pleasant Hills following Tia's death.

"We are really trying to raise awareness and do something positive," she said.