A grieving mother is sending a stern plea to the semi driver who struck and killed her daughter on a suburban interstate before fleeing early Friday.
Maria Garcia described her daughter Perla Andrade-Garcia, 28, as a caring and loving mother.
"I don't know what I'm going to do," Maria Garcia told NBC Chicago, translated from Spanish. "My grandkids are left without their mom. They are alone, and the baby is just three years old."
Relatives said that Andrade-Garcia had just picked up a friend and was driving northbound on I-55 in Bolingbrook at around 3:30 a.m. on Friday when she pulled her vehicle over near Route 52. Both Andrade-Garcia and her passenger exited the vehicle a short time later and were then struck by the semi driver.
While it's unclear what prompted to pull Andrade-Garcia to pull over in the first place, Garcia says her daughter didn't deserve what happened.
"We need justice, it’s not okay for my daughter death to stay like this," she said.
Garcia is pleading for witnesses and the driver who struck her daughter to do the right thing and come forward.
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"Turn themselves in, show your face, why did you leave her there laying on the ground? Why did you leave? You should have helped her provide aid he didn’t do it," the mother said.
Illinois State Police have yet to release a description of the semi or a possible picture of the vehicle.
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