GoFundMe: Samantha Harer Scholarship Sets Lofty Goal

JOLIET, IL - One year ago today, Feb. 13, 2018, off-duty WESCOM dispatcher Samantha Harer died of a gunshot wound to her head inside her apartment in Channahon. Her estranged boyfriend, Crest Hill Officer Phil Flores, called 911 claiming she locked herself in her bedroom and that he was unable to prevent her from harming herself. Channahon's Police Department chose to take Flores at his word and treated the 23-year-old's death as a self-inflicted gunshot wound from the outset.

Harer's untimely death has been hard for many people including her Alpha Phi sorority sisters from the University of Saint Francis in Joliet, where Harer graduated in 2016 with a degree in criminal justice. This week, coinciding with the one-year anniversary of her violent death, her former classmates notified Joliet Patch that a college scholarship is being set up in Harer's memory.

The goal of the GoFundMe campaign is $25,000.

"Amidst the turmoil of the last year since her passing, we believe something good should come of this tragedy," the Samantha Harer GoFundMe explains.

"Our goal is $25,000. This will ensure that each year, for perpetuity, one student receives around $1,000. The recipient of this scholarship will be a student at the university who is a sophomore through senior and is a member of the Iota Phi chapter of Alpha Phi International Fraternity, an organization which Samantha was highly involved in during her junior and senior years."

The GoFundMe went live on Wednesday morning and two people already made $50 donations as of 10:30 a.m.

If you're interested in learning more about the Samantha Harer Memorial Scholarship, visit the GoFundMe here.

Original Patch story: 911 Dispatcher Dated Crest Hill Police Officer

Image of Samantha Harer via GoFundMe, which is a Patch partner