Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of the article gave incorrect information in the headlines about Kristina Lara’s relationship with her children.
Clinging to life, Kristina Lara’s only concern lay with the welfare of her young children.
A man who had never before met Lara was driving on the afternoon of Oct. 25 as he spotted a crash at the south Phoenix intersection between 19th Avenue and West Buckeye Road. This stranger helped pull Lara out of the Honda Civic that the 25-year-old and her four young children were riding in.
“All she was worried about was her babies at that time,” said Lara’s stepmother, Antoinette Henry, in an interview with The Arizona Republic.
The good Samaritan told Henry that once he had assured Lara that her children were out of immediate danger, the mother closed her eyes. Her pulse was no longer detectable.
Lara died that day at the hospital. The following day at a hospital, Lara’s 1-month-old son, Jasiah, would also die as a result of the crash.