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SALT LAKE CITY -- Nearly two weeks after a hit-and-run accident in Salt Lake City June 22, the victim, a mother of two, has died from her injuries.
The family of 26-year old Elvia Lopez took her off life support Monday.
"It's worse because I don't know who did it and why they didn't stop," said Lopez's mother Carol Urcino.
For the past week Lopez's family had hoped for the best, but they prepared for the worst.
Anyone with information is asked to call Salt Lake City Police at 801-799-INFO.
"Her brain injury was so bad that she wasn't responding to (anything)," Urcino said.
Lopez's death leaves two girls, who are 8 and 10 years old, without a mother.
"She was always happy, singing all the time, bugging everybody, always yelling at us, ‘Mom, make some tortillas or something,'" Urcino said.
As Urcino remembers her daughter, she also thinks about the driver of the car that hit Lopez as she was crossing West Temple at 900 South against a red light. She was hit by a car going south. Witnesses told police the driver didn't slow down and got on the freeway onramp.
Police say the vehicle was a mid-size, four-door Japanese or import, dark or gray in color. It could have damage to its right front headlight, hood and grill.
Investigators say they have little to go on and are asking for the public's help in finding the driver. They hope a $5,000 reward will generate tips.
"Even if it's something they might feel is insignificant, it could be very important to the case," said Salt Lake City Police Det. Cary Wichmann.
Anyone with information is asked to call Salt Lake City Police at 801-799-INFO.
Lopez's family is now preparing to bury their daughter on Saturday. They aren't giving up hope the driver will be found.
"I would tell him what they did to our family was wrong and that they needed to stop. What they have done to us, they've done us wrong," Urcino said.
Email:syi@ksl.com
