The family of a woman shot in the head during an apparent road rage incident said she didn’t deserve what had happened to her.
Outside of Mount Sinai Hospital on Friday, Rosa Hernandez Rivera’s family told NBC Chicago she needs all the prayers she can get.
“We’re all praying for her,” said Jennifer Barrea, Hernandez Rivera’s niece. “We go to the chapel. We have a lot of faith…We want justice for what was done to her.”
Hernandez Rivera was with her boyfriend on Thursday morning, headed to the grocery store, when a gray sedan pulled up beside their vehicle near West 47th Street and South Western Avenue, where shots were fired. Hernandez Rivera was in the passenger seat.
Surveillance video captured the moment Hernandez Rivera was shot in broad daylight while driving with her husband and children.
“Why get mad over parking, driving. You’re gonna get home either way,” Barrea said. “The anger goes away. There’s no need to pull out a gun and shoot someone, especially a mother of five. Her children need her. I’m her niece. I need her, but she’s only 11 years older than me.”
Chicago police said the investigation is ongoing, and no new information had been released as of Friday afternoon.
Mental health experts shared a few ways to avoid road rage encounters: not cutting people off, not driving slowly in the left lane, not tailgating and not making gestures.
“You have a responsibility for yourself, for the people around you,” said Osiel Jimenez with Rincon Family Services.
An online fundraiser has been created to support Hernandez Rivera’s recovery and her children.
“She’s young, she has a full life ahead of her, and we want the guy to pay for what he did to her,” Barrea said.
