(LOS ANGELES) — A family is pleading for answers a week after they say their daughter was shot in the head while driving on a California highway and remains on life support.
Ronni Newt, 26, was shot multiple times on Dec. 17 while on U.S. Route 101 in the San Fernando Valley, police said.
She was heading to meet up with friends at the time, her parents said.
“She said that she would be back in a couple of hours because we were going to decorate our tree,” her mother, Francine Webster, told ABC Los Angeles station KABC.
California Highway Patrol officers responded to the scene following reports of a traffic collision around 5:15 p.m. They found a black Audi sedan on the shoulder. The driver, Ronni Newt, had been stuck by “multiple gunshots” and was transported to a local hospital in critical condition, California Highway Patrol said.
“This is the call you never want to get. This is the thing as a parent you fear,” Robert Newt, the victim’s father, told KABC. “I pray every night for my kids to be protected.”
Ronni Newt, who was described by her mother as having a “big heart” and a “lot of personality,” was shot in the head and remains in a coma on life support, according to her parents.
“It’s beyond me that something could be said that could actually make you pull out a gun and shoot somebody,” Robert Newt told KABC.
In the week since the shooting, there have been limited leads into what happened and no suspects have been identified, a California Highway Patrol spokesperson said.
Newt’s parents are now urging any witnesses to come forward.
“If you saw anything, anything that was strange, anything out of the ordinary,” Robert Newt told KABC. “If you saw the color of the car, if you saw the make of the car — no clue is too small.”
The two have been by their daughter’s side in the hospital daily since the shooting and are praying for her recovery, while also waiting for answers.
“There are a lot of people that love her that are supporting her, that want to see whoever did this to her apprehended,” Webster told the station.
California Highway Patrol said it is seeking any dash-cam videos and recordings taken between 4:45 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 17, northbound and southbound along US-101 from I-405 to Tampa Avenue.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the CHP Southern Division’s Major Crimes Unit at -323-644-9550 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or lacrimestoppers.org.
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