She Was Doing God’s Work’ — Then a Rogue Tire Ended Her Life

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A distraught family in Pomona is getting ready to bury their beloved mother after she was killed in a freak car accident this week.

The family has a lot of unanswered questions, and California Highway Patrol says it’s investigating.

“That’s the hardest part, waking up every day and realizing I’ll never get to see her smile again. I’ll never get to hear her voice again,” said the victim’s daughter, Kimberly Paiz.

The crash happened around 2:30 a.m. Monday on the 60 Freeway when a tire crushed the windshield of Ingrid Zapata’s vehicle.
According to CHP, Steven Hernandez was driving his pickup truck when one of the tires flew off the truck. It flew through the air, crossing the center divider and slamming into Zapata’s Lexus.

“It’s just not your average, everyday accident. This is something out of a movie,” Zapata’s son, Carlos Jovel Thompson, said. “I still can’t believe it to today. It’s unbelievable this could happen.”

“Someone’s life was taken away. Our mom’s life was taken away,” Paiz said.

The family says Zapata was on her way to work after dropping friends from church at LAX. They say she was a person who loved to help others.

“She was doing God’s work. She was doing someone in favor, and she died doing that. So that’s the craziest thing to me is — why her? Why her? She was such a good woman. Why my mom?” Thompson said.
A GoFundMe was set up to help Zapata’s family deal with the funeral expenses. Several days after the accident, they are waiting for more information from law enforcement.

They want to know: How could a tire come off a vehicle like that?

“There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered, and we’re just sitting here waiting, not knowing,” Zapata’s son, Alvaro Reyes, said.

“Everyone is asking for the police report. We just don’t know what’s going on,” Thompson said.

According to CHP, the investigation is ongoing as they try to figure out why the tire flew off the truck.

Any witnesses or anyone with information is asked to contact CHP’s Baldwin Park office.

Her family has organized a GoFundMe to help with his funeral expenses:

With heavy hearts, we share the sudden passing of our beloved Ingrid. She left us far too soon, but her legacy of unconditional love will live on forever. Ingrid didn’t just speak about love—she lived it every day. Through her kindness, generosity, and open heart, she touched everyone she met and left them better for having known her.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/remembering-ingrids-unconditional-love