Vanessa Bigg-Carr, a 34-year-old White / Caucasian female from Hazleton, Pennsylvania, was killed on September 13, 2025, after gunfire broke the quiet of Hilltop Apartments on East Broad Street. Hazleton City Police were called to the apartment complex at about 5:17 p.m. for a report that someone had been shot. When officers arrived, they found two people with gunshot wounds.
Bigg-Carr was pronounced dead at the scene, while Patrick Hearst was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital–Hazleton and later transferred to another hospital because of the severity of his injuries. He was reported to be in critical condition after the shooting.
Authorities identified the shooter as Miguel Lara. Police said Lara was found inside his apartment with a self-inflicted gunshot wound after the attack. Local reports described the shooting as an isolated incident, and police said there was no continuing threat to the public. One report, citing published local coverage, said Bigg-Carr lived in an upstairs apartment at the complex while Lara lived in a ground-floor unit, placing the violence within the same residential setting where their lives had crossed.
In the days after her death, more of Bigg-Carr’s life came into view. Her obituary said she was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and lived in Hazleton. She worked as a behavioral health technician at Clearvision Health and Wellness in Hazleton and was a 2009 graduate of Panther Valley High School. She was also the mother of three children: Dustin Allen Sorentino Jr., Savannah Isabella Sorrentino, and Sophia Ann Sorrentino. Her family had already endured the death of her twin sister, Felicia M. Bigg-Carr, in February 2024, making Vanessa’s killing another devastating loss for those closest to her.
Because Lara died from what police described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities did not announce an arrest in connection with Bigg-Carr’s death. No public reporting located described criminal charges, a trial, or a conviction, as the identified suspect was deceased at the scene. Police continued to treat the matter as a deadly shooting investigation, with multiple agencies assisting Hazleton City Police, including Pennsylvania State Police, West Hazleton Police, Butler Township Police, Sugarloaf Township Police, Beaver Meadows Police, Weatherly Police, Penn State Hazleton Police, and the Hazleton City Fire Department.
Later in September, friends, relatives, and neighbors gathered at Hilltop Apartments for a vigil in memory of Bigg-Carr and in support of Hearst. The gathering reflected the shock felt in a community described by one organizer as close-knit and loving. Those who came together prayed, shared memories, and mourned a woman remembered as a mother, daughter, sister, worker, graduate, and friend whose life ended suddenly inside the place she called home.
