Kyleigh Sousa Update: Mom of Murdered ASU Student Wants Alert System

TEMPE, Ariz. (CBS/KPHO) Five months ago, ASU student Kyleigh Sousa was killed just a couple of blocks from the campus of Arizona State University, and the pain is still raw for Kyleigh's mother.

PICTURES: Kyleigh Sousa: A Life Cut Short

From her New Jersey home, Sousa's mother, Karen Montenegro, told CBS affiliate KPHO, "It's a struggle every day for me and my family."

"We feel no better than we did initially when it happened. It's just still a tremendous shock."

The wound reopened for Montenegro a little more than a week ago when she learned of the slaying of another ASU student, Zachary Marco. The 21-year-old pre-law junior was robbed and shot to death. The robbers got away with his laptop and cell phone.

"It was just unbelievable to us, you know, the news of another murder to befall the ASU community. It was heartbreaking and troubling to both me and my family and friends and my daughter friends who are still at ASU," Montenegro told KPHO.

Montenegro said she's talked with Marco's father, who is a valley lawyer. She is hoping the two of them might be able to help implement a new alert system for ASU students and their parents for incidents like the ones that took the lives of her daughter and Marco. She even suggested maybe the alert should be called the Kyleigh Sousa alert. Montenegro believes if students were notified almost immediately of serious situations on or near campus, they could guard themselves better and perhaps help in the apprehension of suspects.

"Maybe in that very short limited time period, somebody can see something and provide more information to the police. Maybe they would have seen these people running away from Zack or got a license plate number or something unusual that happened in that short time frame where they might have been able to give some helpful information," Montenegro told the station.

The 21-year-old was with a friend in the parking lot of the IHOP restaurant. Police said someone in a car grabbed Sousa's purse. She got tangled in the strap and was dragged by the car and suffered fatal injuries. No one has been arrested.

Sousa's mom expressed confidence in the investigation underway into her daughter's murder and said she felt confident they would catch the killer.

A spokesman for the Tempe police said investigators had no new information to release about their investigation, but they continue to follow up on all leads. No one has been arrested, and no suspects have been named in Kyleigh's murder.

COMPETE COVERAGE OF KYLEIGH SOUSA ON CRIMESIDER