Hannah Wilson 'always made people laugh,' mom says

Hannah Wilson's family was planning to see the 22-year-old graduate from Indiana University on May 9.

Instead, her mother said loved ones are mourning the loss of a young woman who was happy, beautiful and perhaps too trusting.

"She was truly the happiest human being ever," Robin Wilson said Tuesday during a telephone interview with The Indianapolis Star. "From the time she was a little girl she always made people laugh."

Hannah's body was found Friday morning in a rural area of Brown County. She had been beaten to death only hours earlier, a coroner's report indicated.

Prosecutors have charged a Bloomington man with murder, but Robin Wilson did not want to talk about the 49-year-old suspect.

"He does not deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as my daughter," Wilson said.

Tuesday was a difficult day, Wilson said, because Bloomington authorities released Hannah's remains and her family expected to see the body for the first time since her daughter's death.

Hannah's father, Jeff Wilson, is a doctor who lives in Fishers. The couple are divorced.

"She was so beautiful, not just on the outside but on the inside, and she had the most amazing heart," said Robin Wilson, a veterinarian who also lives in Fishers.

Hannah, a Hamilton Southeastern High School graduate, was studying psychology at Indiana University. She planned on becoming a psychologist and hoped to work closely with gay and lesbian people struggling to cope with their sexuality and come out to their families, Wilson said.

"She had a huge need and want to be a psychologist and a sex educator and an advocate for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community," Wilson said. "She wanted to be the person who could help those families get through."

A former high school cheerleader, she planned to coach a junior varsity cheer team at Fishers High School for a year before pursuing a master's degree.

"She was going to work and save some money," Wilson said. "She wanted to be a role model for her cheer squad who she was so happy to have just met."

She loved her family, Wilson said, and was especially close to her sister Haley, who will be a freshman at IU in the fall.

Hannah also adored her 13-year-old cat, Mac, Wilson said. Mac lives with Wilson, 53, and she recently saw him in a closet curled up in a pile of Hannah's dirty clothes.

Hannah was last seen by her friends about 1 a.m. Friday when they arranged for a cab to take her to her Bloomington home.

A possible motive in the killing and how the suspect and Hannah might have encountered each other are unclear.

Wilson declined to talk specifically about the investigation.

"If we all can bring my girl justice," Wilson said. "We can't do anything to jeopardize what the police need to do to bring a conviction."

Hannah, she said, always saw the good in people.

"She loved everyone. She just didn't think people could be evil."

The community has rallied around the family. Wilson said she spent Monday night with her Delta Gamma sorority sisters from Purdue University.

"It felt so good telling stories, laughing and reminiscing," Wilson said. "For the first couple hours I didn't feel any pain."

Hannah was in the Gamma Phi sorority at IU. She chose it especially because she didn't want to follow in Mom's footsteps.

"She was such her own person," Wilson said. "You just couldn't put this girl in a box."

Loved ones, Wilson said, will always remember Hannah's huge, infectious laugh.

"She could light up the room with her laughter. Everyone knew it was the Hannah Wilson laugh."

Star researcher Cathy Knapp contributed to this story. Call Star reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2701. Follow him on Twitter: @VicRyc.

Hannah Wilson services on Saturday

What: Services for Hannah Wilson

Where: Fishers High School Auditorium, 13000 Promise Road, Fishers.

When: Calling 4-7 p.m.; funeral 7 p.m. Saturday, May 2.

How to help: Indiana University's Panhellenic Association has established a memorial fund to provide a scholarship for Hannah's sister Haley Wilson, who will attend Indiana University in the fall. www.youcaring.com/memorial-fundraiser/hannah-wilson-memorial-fund/343790