A mother of six badly injured in a July 5 hit-and-run crash in Pomona died Monday, July 15, relatives said.
Carol Fuentes, 57, of Pomona had spinal cord and brain injuries and was in the intensive care unit for 10 days, according to her daughter, Bridget Diaz. Watching her mother suffer was hard, she said.
“She fought for her life at the very end,” Diaz said.
Four people who suffered injuries ranging from minor to severe were hospitalized after the three-car crash on Garey Avenue and North Orange Grove Avenue involving a Ford Expedition, a Nissan Rogue and a Honda Civic, police said. It was reported to police shortly after 9 p.m.
After the collision, the man driving the Expedition abandoned his SUV and ran, Pomona police spokeswoman Aly Mejia said. A caller reported seeing the man running up the 10 eastbound off-ramp, she said. The hit-and-run driver has not been found yet.
Fuentes was three minutes from home when the crash occurred, family members said.
She was coming home from Morongo Casino that night and heading west on Orange Grove Avenue when an Expedition northbound on Garey Avenue ran a red light and hit her Nissan Rouge, Diaz said, adding video from a nearby business showed the crash. The third car was in the next lane to the Nissan, she said.
“She was actually on the phone with my sister when it happened,” Diaz said.
The phone was cut off. The Nissan’s alarm system sent a map to Fuentes’ husband, Federico Fuentes, where the crash happened, according to Diaz.
Her father arrived at the scene and saw her mother being removed from the Nissan which was demolished, Diaz said.
“It’s almost as if a big rig took it out. The radiator was across the street,” she said.
They were with her mother for the Fourth of July. Fuentes said she would go to the casino the next day.
“My dad was supposed to go with her but he had to do errands,” Diaz said.
The family also was planning to celebrate the birthday of Andy Diaz, one of Fuentes’ sons, on July 6, she said.
Diaz described her mother as a strong person, a hard-working person who never asked anything from anyone. Fuentes was a grandmother of 14 with another grandchild on the way.
“She lived for her grandchildren,” Diaz said.
Fuentes worked at the Walmart distribution center in Chino and attended Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pomona, Diaz said.
Fuentes was close to her children and had many friends in the community, according to her niece, Melissa Martinez.
“She’s just an amazing person,” Martinez said.
The family held a vigil near the site of the crash on Monday. There is also a GoFundMe created to help with funeral expenses.
Police asked anyone with information about the hit-and-run to call their Traffic Services Bureau at 909-802-7741 or 909-620-2048.
