Family, many friends remember Kasandra Moffett, woman killed in University Place crash

Kasandra Moffett was the godmother of Tacoma.

That’s how her brother Marice Cardey put it.

Judging by the diverse group of a hundred or so people who came to Tacoma’s Franklin Park Monday night at for a vigil in honor of the the 28-year-old killed in a University Place car crash early Saturday, he was 100 percent right.

“She brought everyone together, regardless of background,” Cardey said. “She’s a light, that’s for sure.”

Family and friends described Moffett as a tomboy with an outsized personality who drew everyone she met to her.

A video posted to Facebook showed Moffett in the back seat of a car, dancing like nobody was watching — until she looked up and saw it was being recorded. She immediately burst out laughing and shoved her hand in front of the lens.

“I knew my daughter touched a lot of people, but it didn’t dawn on me that (it was to) this spectrum. I’m almost speechless,” said Shirley Moffett, Kasandra’s mother, as she looked around at the crowd. “But my heart is full. I know that she would be celebrating right now if she was here.”

Shirley Moffett said her daughter’s four Buffalo Wild Wings co-workers are still in intensive care nearly three days after the 1 a.m. Saturday wreck at 27th Street West and Bridgeport Way.

The restaurant chain has launched a statewide fundraising drive for the co-workers. Donations can be made at the Tacoma restaurant, 4219 S. Steele St., where Kasandra Moffett worked.

The driver of the truck that hit the car Moffett and her co-workers were in showed signs of impairment, University Place Police Chief Mike Blair said. A passenger in the truck also had serious injuries.

The driver was to be released from Pierce County Jail pending further information, Pierce County prosecutors said Monday afternoon.

The News Tribune does not generally name suspects until they have been charged with a crime.

Moffett’s brother Eric Cardey said they grew up going to Franklin Park, which is why the family held the event there.

Monday night’s event was a relatively raucous one, with the scent of barbecue wafting through the air as tray after tray of food was set out for friends and family to enjoy. It was an event befitting someone so outgoing.

“You won’t meet anyone who loves this city more than Kasandra Moffett,” Marice Cardey said. “It was born and raised in her, and she was born and raised in it.”

This story was originally published June 20, 2016 at 10:37 PM with the headline "Family, many friends remember Kasandra Moffett, woman killed in University Place crash."