"Her light, though, will continue to shine on us all, " said Christia Gibbons, Hogan's former teacher and close friend who spoke on behalf of the family, in a Facebook post on Sept. 3. "We are better people for having had her in our lives. "

Hogan, who was 37, leaves behind her 15-month-old son Zander, husband Matt LaRussa, and countless family and friends.

The Phoenix Fire Department reported on Aug. 27 that a woman was in critical condition after her husband found her incapacitated in the pool in a residential neighborhood.

Gibbons confirmed with The Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network, that Hogan tripped and fell into the pool, where she nearly drowned. Her husband arrived home minutes later and began performing CPR before Hogan was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Hogan died five days later, and her family made the decision to donate her organs.

"I wanted as much of her in this world as possible, and I can someday meet the recipients, " LaRussa said in a quote provided by Gibbons. Hogan was a New York Times best-selling nonfiction author, an authority on several high-profile crime cases, and a popular journalism instructor at her alma mater, Arizona State University — but loved ones also remembered her as a loving mother, playful friend, and profoundly humble powerhouse.

"This is a person who cared for everyone else and did whatever she could to make their lives better, whether it was companionship, guidance in a personal matter, mentoring, " Gibbons told The Republic.

The two met when Hogan was a 19-year-old student in Gibbons' intermediate reporting class at ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Gibbons said she was immediately struck by Hogan's writing ability and work ethic and, even after the course completed, remained her mentor as Hogan's career took off. Later, they became close friends.








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