'Just getting to her life': Former Indy woman killed in Texas remembered for personality

Smart. Driven. Thoughtful. Helpful and kind. 

Those are just some of the words friends and family used to describe Erin Dunn when they gathered on the north side of Indianapolis Saturday to celebrate the 28-year-old’s life. 

Some friends recalled singing and dancing with Dunn at Indianapolis bars. Others remembered Dunn’s love for Harry Potter. And still more described a friend who always had their backs. But everyone on Saturday mourned the loss of a woman just beginning to settle into her career.

Dunn was killed Nov. 30 at her apartment in Corpus Christi, Texas, in an apparent domestic violence situation, according to police records. Dunn’s boyfriend, 30-year-old Moses Sandoval, was arrested after telling police he was responsible for his girlfriend's death shortly after the incident.

Originally from Indianapolis, Dunn grew up on the west side of the city and eventually graduated from IUPUI in 2016 with degrees in chemistry and forensic and investigative sciences. 

“She was always super smart,” Brooke Dunn, Erin’s sister said. Brooke Dunn called her sister her “best friend” and said that, although Erin was the younger of the two sisters, she was the “backbone of the family” and the best aunt to her sister’s three young girls. 

Dunn moved to Corpus Christi in 2017 to start work as a forensic scientist at the Texas Department of Public Safety, a career she had long worked towards, according to family.

“It’s just something that she always wanted to do — always liked to help people,” Brooke Dunn said. “It’s like she was just getting to her life.” 

‘She saw the beauty in people’

When Dunn wasn’t in a lab analyzing evidence gathered from the latest crime scene, she was making new friends and exploring new places in Texas, according to her sister. 

She had recently bought a new car and a goldendoodle puppy named Luna. Earlier in the year, Dunn joined a roller derby team — something her mother always wanted to do when she was younger.  

Still, despite moving to Texas more than three years ago, Dunn never lost touch with her friends in Indianapolis. 

One of her favorite places was Broad Ripple, according to friends, and Dunn would frequently go to The Egyptian, an area hookah bar. She liked to smoke the chocolate mint flavored hookah tobacco and would sometimes bring her books to the bar to study. 

“We went so much to the point where people knew who we were,” Lelia Pettigrew, Dunn’s college roommate and longtime friend, said of their trips to The Egyptian. “We always had fun together, and she was always happy. She was always someone I wanted to be around.” 

“The memories that I have and the time I spent with her — I  wish I had more.” Pettigrew added.

Anthony Love, who first met Dunn in middle school, echoed those sentiments. 

Dunn and Love grew up two streets apart and initially bonded over their mutual interest in music. Dunn was in the drumline, and Love played the clarinet and tuba. “She always laughed and said I only wanted to hang out to play with her drum set,” Love said. 

The pair quickly became best friends, getting together often to either do “something Harry Potter-related” or play video games like Dance Dance Revolution. Love said one of the things he loved about Dunn was her personality.

“The beautiful thing about Erin is that she could make friends with anybody,” Love said. “She saw the beauty in people. I don’t know anybody who didn’t like her.”

Love in October moved to Texas to be closer to Dunn. 

“At this point, I’m still trying to process what happened,” he said of the Nov. 30 incident. “I have good days and bad days. I feel like my soulmate has been ripped away from me.”

Remembering Dunn

On Saturday, a slideshow of pictures of Dunn was projected on one wall of the event center where friends and family celebrated the woman’s life. 

Visitors took turns viewing a series of collages lining another wall that highlighted significant aspects of Dunn’s life.

In one collage titled “graduation,” there were photos of Dunn holding her diploma, posing with friends at graduation and doing homework at the hookah bar. 

In another, titled “Harry Potter” and emblazoned with the crest of the fictional Hogwarts school, Dunn can be seen in photos dressed as characters from the series. 

Among those celebrating Dunn were sisters Renee and Amanda Whittaker, two of Dunn’s earliest childhood friends.

“She was probably the most genuine, outgoing, lovable, sweetest, kindest — words can’t even describe the person she was,” Renee Whittaker said. “She definitely left impressions on everybody’s life. If she was a part of your life, she definitely made it better.”

Contact Lawrence Andrea at 317-775-4313 or landrea@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @lawrencegandrea.