Jigme Norbu, nephew of the Dalai Lama, was killed on Monday evening in Palm Coast, Florida after being struck by a car. The 45-year-old Bloomington, Indiana resident was in Florida for a 300-mile “Walk for Tibet,” which was scheduled to end in West Palm Beach. On the walk, he carried a sign which read “FOR WORLD PEACE, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND TIBETAN INDEPENDENCE.”

Jigme Norbu’s father, Thubten Jigme Norbu, a former professor of Tibetan and religious studies at Indiana University, Bloomington and once a curator of Tibetan artifacts at New York’s American Museum of Natural History, was a co-founder of the International Tibet Independence Movement and began “freedom walks” to highlight the Tibetan cause. He passed away on September 5, 2008.

The Capital Area Tibetan Association (CATA) held a prayer service for Jigme Norbu at ICT”s Washington office on Tuesday evening.

Jigme Norbu leaves behind a wife and three children. ICT sent condolences to the family.