Family of woman killed on freeway asks driver to come forward

An El Paso woman and her husband, overwhelmed with varying emotions.

Grateful to the complete strangers who stopped and helped their daughter Wednesday morning when her SUV flipped over on the freeway. They even forgive the driver who moments later ran over their daughter, right in front of those good Samaritans.

As if telling their grand daughter her mother is in heaven isn’t hard enough, the Northeast El Paso couple is left wondering if and when, that driver will ever be caught.

El Paso Police say he or she was southbound on U.S. 54 Wednesday around 3 a.m when they ran over 33-year-old nurse Ruth Noami DeSoto. She was lying in the middle of the freeway after she was ejected from her SUV during a rollover.

Police say it was a dark compact car and it probably has damage to the front end. It also may be even missing a headlight.

ABC-7 spoke with DeSoto’s mother and father on Thursday, as well as police. They all made emotional pleas to the driver of the vehicle who ran over their daughter and fled the scene to come forward and surrender.

“I was kind of thinking she was weary at 3 in the morning and just veered off the road,” Ruth DeSoto’s father, Rudy DeSoto, told ABC-7.

He said she was out with friends Tuesday night and was only three miles from home when the crash occurred early Wednesday, leaving Nilda DeSoto telling her six-year-old grand daughter her mother wasn’t coming home.

“She asked me,’Where’s my mommy?'” Nilda DeSoto told ABC-7. “I said, ‘She’s in heaven.’ She said, ‘She’s not coming down?’ I said, ‘No sweetheart, she’s not coming down, but she’s looking down for you.'”

The wreck reminded her devastated father of a crash scene he once witnessed.

“There was a car turned upside down and as I passed by I saw the fireman holding their hand,” Rudy DeSoto said through tears. “In my mind, that’s all he could do. And that image stayed in my mind. And that’s her.”

Crews are still working on the cable and guardrail that DeSoto’s car struck, causing it to flip over and her to be ejected onto the southbound lanes. Police say she was being tended to by witnesses when a dark-colored, early 2000’s compact vehicle struck her and fled the scene.

“If you’re the person responsible, step up and clear your conscious,” El Paso Police spokesman Enrique Carrillo said. “You can’t be sleeping at night, there’s no way.”

“Please help yourself and just come and say it’s an accident,” Nilda DeSoto added. “We already forgive you in our heart and just do the right thing so it will be easier for you.”

“Really we’re taught to forgive and that’s the thing, and that’s what we need for that person to know,” Rudy DeSoto said. “Hey, come forward, don’t live your life with this on your conscious. I wouldn’t wish that for anybody. It’s got to be tormenting.”

A go-fund-me account has been set up for DeSoto’s daughter. Police say the dark-colored, compact vehicle that hit her may have damage to the front end and be missing the entire front headlight housing. If you see a vehicle matching that description, call police.