A 28-year-old mother of five died in an unfortunate accident while defending her 11-year-old daughter from bullies in the middle of the street outside her home. This shows the extent of damage bullying can cause and the consequences of making bad decisions in the heat of the moment.
Keep reading for the details.
The victim, identified as Ashley Lopez, is a mother to five children and moved to protect one of them from bullies when she met her death.
According to authorities, Lopez was in the middle of a big argument that involved close to 30 people in the middle of a street in San Antonio and then began to trade voices with another woman right on the spot.
36-year-old Pennie Gomez. who got into the shouting match with Lopez, moved to show her anger by driving her silver Hyundai Sonata towards Lopez and one other woman.
Things took a deadly turn as she ran over Lopez and ended up killing her, leaving the second woman severely injured.
When a bystander noticed Lopez was stuck under Gomez's car, they tried to get her out, but Gomez reportedly dragged her over 20-30 feet more, causing her more harm.
Eyewitnesses made sure to capture the incident on video, and the two passengers in Gomez's car also returned to the scene to gather evidence.
Lopez's mom, who is in shock over her daughter's death, spoke to a news outlet on Sunday, asking just one question "Why would you (Gomez) do this ?"
Blanco revealed to KENS5 that the late Lopez died defending her 11-year-old daughter, who had been the butt of jokes and bullying in school and even had her bullies follow her home, causing a fight to break out.
According to Blanco and Lopez's sister-in-law Andrea Mata, Gomez's daughter allegedly lived with Lopez at the time of the incident, although they claimed not to know her.
The pair continued that they didn't notice any sign of bad blood between Lopez and Gomez as far as they knew.
Gomez has been taken into custody and charged with Murder and Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
The 36-year-old was already wanted by authorities on unrelated drug possession charges.
Following her arrest, Gomez is currently held at county jail with her bond set at $251,000 and when she was asked about the incident, she demanded an attorney in line with her rights.
Blanco and Mata plan to attend the hearings to get closure on Lopez's death and have joined hands with a local motorcycle club to help raise funds for Lopez's burial. They plan to host a barbecue fundraiser next weekend.
