Two weeks ago, Betsy Gomez got the call no mother wants to get -- her 19-year-old son Anthony Almanza was at Maricopa County Medical Center on life support.
“It is one of the most awful experiences of my life, to get a call that says your son might die,” said Gomez, who was at home in Miami, Fla. at the time.
Almanza had come to Phoenix to visit his grandmother and explore his future.
According to Phoenix Police, around 10:20 p.m. on November 17, Anthony was found lying in the middle of Indian School Road near 24th Street, the victim of a hit and run driver. Witnesses only recall seeing a dark SUV.
Anthony had been left for dead.
“To not have that humanity inside of you to help somebody that you actually hurt...” said Gomez.
Soon after, Gomez was given more horrific news. She would need to make the decision on whether to keep Anthony on life support and pray for life, or let him die.
“It's the worst choice a mother would have to make for her child and for the person who did this to my son. How dare you make me make that choice? How dare you be out there after doing something so awful to a boy with so many dreams,” cried Gomez.
But finding the driver hasn’t been so easy.
First off, Gomez said it wasn’t police who informed her about her son, but the hospital who called a day after he was found.
She told ABC15 she has called Phoenix Police almost daily hoping to talk to the detective in charge of her son’s case.
“They’re very polite. Today he said, 'Let me check,' then came ‘Sorry ma’am there’s nobody assigned to your son’s case'," a frustrated Gomez remembers. “It’s been two weeks.”
We contacted Phoenix Police, and they said unfortunately Gomez had been misinformed.
“The case was handled by patrol at the scene and has been assigned to a detective. It is still under investigation, however no witnesses have come forward and no surveillance video in the area has been located,” said Sgt. Vincent Lewis, a spokesperson for the Phoenix Police Department
Someone knows something, but until they’re willing to tell the truth, there’s little that can be done.
As Gomez watches her son defy the odds, she is now hoping someone will care enough to tell the truth and give her son justice.
Anthony is now off life support, but he has not been able to speak to her.
“Doctors told me my son was going to be a vegetable, and my son is proving every day that he's fighting to keep himself alive,” said Gomez.
