WOODLAND–

Francisca Reyes says she can forgive an accident, but can’t understand why a man the CHP says killed her daughter left the scene of her death.

California Highway Patrol says a Sacramento man, 26-year-old Cameron Matthew Ervin, was driving the car that hit 17-year-old Claudia Gonzales – who was also known as Claudia Reyes – and drove away.  She was killed at the scene on westbound Interstate 5, just east of Woodland city limits.

“He was only able to provide that he hit something on his way to work that night,” said Konvalin.

An anonymous tip led officers to Ervin’s 1988 Buick Park Avenue, with damage to the front and driver’s side, at a metal recycling yard on North 12th Street in Sacramento.  It was due to be scrapped the next day.

“You want to sell your car to a dismantle place? That gets to me, that’s why I have questions … It doesn’t add up,” said Reyes.

The impact of her daughter’s loss weighs on Reyes.

“Her coffin had to be closed. I can see my baby in her pictures only,” said Reyes.

Reyes knows that her daughter’s death could have been an accident. Claudia did demand to be let out of the car in which she was a passenger after and emotional disagreement.  According to the CHP, she then ran out into the fast lane toward the median on the dark stretch of freeway when she was struck.

But leaving the scene and trying to get rid of the car was too much for Reyes.  The CHP says the investigation is continuing and that it’s likely they will ask for an arrest warrant.  The Yolo County District Attorney’s office will determine the exact charges.

“I want justice for Claudia, she’s not here to ask for justice,” said Reyes.