Nearly two dozen family members and dear friends of five young women killed in a hit-and-run crash in Minneapolis a year ago this week sat down with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS to share memories just days after the solemn anniversary.

Sabiriin Ali, 17; Sagal Hersi, 19; Siham Adam, 19; Sahra Gesaade, 20; and Salma Abdikadir, 20, died on June 16, 2023. Police say a speeding driver slammed into their car on Lake Street near Interstate 35W, killing all five of them, before fleeing the scene.

Families of four of the women were represented in interviews on Tuesday, sharing snippets about the young women who they say packed a lot of life, love and giving into lifetimes cut entirely too short.

Sahra Gesaade

To her younger sister, Rukia Gesaade, Sahra Gesaade was a “built-in best friend.”

“Although we’re just a year apart, I always looked up to her like she’s 10 years older than me,” Rukia laughed.

“She’d always put other people before her, and that’s a habit of hers.”

Sahra was about to graduate from the University of Minnesota with plans to go on to medical school. Instead, it was Rukia who walked the commencement ceremony stage to accept the diploma on her sister’s behalf.

“I’m trying to do a lot of things on her behalf, like, you know, working hard in my school and graduating and like, you know, just doing everything that we always wanted to accomplish together,” Rukia shared. “It’s very sad to lose, like, my role model in my life. You know?”

Salma Abdikadir

Yusra Ali considered Salma Abdikadir her best friend from the time they were in grade school.

“We graduated high school together side-by-side…We were majoring in the same thing, psychology, so it’s like every decision we made, we did it together,” Yusra said.

“I think we just both, like, want to help people, whether that be therapists or helping kids with special needs, or anything — just anything in that field. Helping people was always something she wanted to do.”

Sitting in the room with Yusra was Salma’s mother, Sahara Mohamed. Salma was her only daughter.

“She was not only my daughter but my best friend and my helping hand, and she was doing everything for me,” Mohamed said. “I just can’t believe that she’s gone.”

Sabiriin Ali

For older sister Sundus Ali, time has stood still in the year since Sabiriin Ali’s death.

“Time doesn’t really all heal wounds. I don’t think this is something that can really be fixed,” Sundus Ali said. “She was one of the kindest souls I’ve ever met. She’s not only my little sister, but I’d consider her one of my closest friends.”

Sabiriin graduated from Edina High School less than two weeks before the fatal crash.

“And she was going to be a physician’s assistant, actually,” Sundus Ali shared. “She always loved helping people, and she wanted to do that for the rest of her life.”

Siham Adam

Siham Adam is also missed by a sister named Sundus.

“She was a innocent soul and a kind-hearted girl, and she was my best friend,” Sundus Odhowa shared.

Siham was the family’s pillar and had been since day one, Sundus Odhowa said.

“She was so strong, like, I feel like she’s stronger than me.”

“She wanted to graduate college, get married, like, travel the world before she got married. So we talked a lot about the future, and it was always about being by her family’s side and just being surrounded by family and her best friends,” she continued.

“And we will have to wake up every day knowing that they’re gone, which is really, like, I can’t even explain how that feels.”

Odhowa, translating for her father Adam Bile sitting next to her, said, “Basically, what my dad is saying that there’s not a day, or a second, that they don’t think about the girls.”

Sagal Hersi’s family wasn’t available on Tuesday.

The man accused of hitting and killing the five young women is 28-year-old Derrick Thompson. He’s expected to stand trial in Hennepin County at the end of the year.