ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The family of 33-year-old Erika Chavez, the Albuquerque woman who died in a car crash, said their lives will never be the same. Now they are calling on Albuquerque Police to find the other driver and arrest them.

“She was the most amazing person you could’ve ever met,” said Rosa Rivera, Chavez’s aunt. Chavez was born and raised in Albuquerque and worked for the state.

Her family said her husband and her 15, 8, and 3-year-old children were the center of her world. “Her smile, her smile is what we’re going to miss the most because that smile would light up the room,” said Rivera.

Their world was turned upside down two days ago when Chavez died in a car crash. “Her babies will never see that smile because of this reckless murderer that took her from us,” said Rivera.

Chavez was on her way to pick up breakfast for the family and was turning left onto Unser from Tower. That’s when police said a driver in a Ford Mustang ran a red light and hit Chavez.

Witnesses told the family the Ford Mustang was speeding, driving about 120 miles per hour. The crash killed Chavez instantly. Her three-year-old daughter was in the backseat and survived but bruised up.

“How are we going to take her to the service; how do you tell her that her mommy is sleeping and she’s never going to wake up,” said Rivera.

The family is eager for the police to finish their investigation. Until then, Chavez’s family and her husband, who lost his mother in a similar car crash when he was a kid, will have to figure out life without their light.

“Our lives will never be the same because he took her from us,” said Rivera. “He took the most amazing person you could ever meet away from us in a blink of an eye.”

The family hopes Chavez’s story will be a wake-up call for other drivers who run red lights or who drive recklessly. The family has set up a GoFundMe page for Chavez’s three kids.

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