MONTCLAIR, Calif. (KABC) — At the corner of Benito Street and Central Avenue, a memorial decorated with flowers, candles and notes marks the spot where 18-year-old Isabel Yepez was left in critical condition.

Her friend Evelyn Irene said Yepez went to visit a friend on August 5 who was having suicidal thoughts.

“She left at 2 a.m. to meet her friend and finally left around 5 a.m.,” Irene recalled. “At 5:17 a.m. she texted her boyfriend: ‘Hey, I’m with this friend. I’m just going home.'”

But Yepez never made it home.

According to a Montclair police officer, Yepez was struck by a hit-and-run driver minutes after he sent the text message.

“They just left her there and didn’t try to check on her,” Irene said. “They didn’t call the police, they didn’t do anything. Someone who was walking had to call the police.”

Yepez suffered two broken legs and a broken arm and is now on a ventilator. Police say they arrested the driver three hours after the crash.

The family has identified the driver as 18-year-old Issac Velasquez Panfilo.

According to court records, he was released after pleading not guilty to hit-and-run charges.

“She would be alive if he had done the right thing, but instead he just left her there,” said Yepez’s aunt Joselyn Guerrero.

The day after the hit-and-run accident, the family decided to stop Yepez’s life support.

“We are totally devastated,” said Guerrero. “I hope the person who did this to my niece gets what he deserves. We want justice.”

Yepez will be remembered for her kindness to others and the meals she prepared for them.

“She wanted to be a chef. That was the biggest thing for her. She wanted to be a chef, her cooking skills were the most incredible ever. She was so good at it,” said Jaslene Orrosquieta, Yepez’s longtime friend.

A GoFundMe campaign was launched to ensure Yepez’s final resting place.