NJ college student who died in Seton Hall dorm identified

Seton Hall identified the student who died from a medical emergency in Neumann Hall residence hall on Monday as a sophomore from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Kristen McCartney was a sophomore in the school's School of Diplomacy and International Relations and a member of Alpha Omicron Pi,

A cause of death has not been disclosed.

“For everyone in the Seton Hall community who loved our daughter and took time to know her, we say thank you from the very bottom of our hearts. She loved being a Pirate," her mother said in the statement.

She was "a bright light extinguished far too soon," her mother said.

"My heart will never be whole again and I will miss you and love you till my very last breath. You were my heart and my soul," her father Sean McCartney wrote on his Facebook page.

Her aunt, Brenna Burnette, said she that she had been looking for to watching her niece graduate Seton Hall and live her life to the fullest.

"She was such a smart, funny, charismatic, inspiring young woman. She was much smarter than myself and I always enjoyed learning from her," Burnette said.

Seton Hall's Campus Ministry said a prayer gathering will be held at the university chapel Wednesday night at 9 p.m.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ