A Chicago family is hoping for a holiday miracle after a mother of five and grandmother of 10 was critically injured in a hit-and-run crash in the city's Little Village neighborhood.
Daisy Soto has been praying that her mother Juana Tapia Lopez will pull through. The 56-year-old woman remains in a coma after being hit by a car last month.
"We still have strong hope and faith that she will wake up and be okay," Soto said. "Even with what the doctors are saying, we still have so much faith."
Lopez's family said the beloved mother and grandmother is a hard worker and did everything for her family. She was involved with her Little Village community and has a personality to match.
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"It’s just been really hard to see her that way because she never let us see her cry," said Soto. "So seeing her there is just killing us inside."
The hit-and-run crash happened on Nov. 20, just days before Thanksgiving. Lopez’s family said she was crossing the street when she was hit. The impact was so strong it threw her into the air. Police said the suspect fled northbound on Drake Avenue before turning westbound onto 25th Street.
"We just want justice for her," cried her daughter. "She didn’t deserve this. Nobody deserves this. We just want them to be caught; basically we don’t want them to do this to somebody else, somebody else’s mother."
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Chicago police are still working to track down the driver of the vehicle involved and released a community alert last week asking for the public's help to find a red truck.
Soto said detectives told her family on Wednesday they no longer believe that truck was involved in the crash. Chicago police have not confirmed the new detail and said the investigation remains open and ongoing.
NBC 5 Investigates has been covering Chicago’s hit-and-run crisis for more than a year. NBC 5 Investigates learned from city data this latest crash is one of 33,000 hit-and-runs across the city in 2022 alone, killing at least 28 year people and leaving 4,400 others injured.
Soto's family is pleading for the driver responsible for hurting her mom to come forward.
"How could you? Right now is a moment to bring peace now to us," she said. "Turn yourself in—just how could you do this to our mom?"
