A family in the Inland Empire is mourning the loss of their mother after she was killed earlier this week when a tire from another vehicle loosened and struck her car as she traveled through Pomona.

Ingrid Zapata, 57, died early Monday while heading home from Los Angeles International Airport. The matriarch had just dropped off some friends for a flight and was headed to her job as a school bus driver when tragedy struck.

While Zapata was traveling on the 60 Freeway, an SUV traveling on the westbound lanes of the freeway lost a tire near Garvey Avenue. The tire bounced across several lanes and over the center divider into oncoming traffic, then struck Zapata’s windshield. The sudden occurrence caused her to lose control of her vehicle and crash into the guardrail, killing her.

“Our minds go to a negative place, but I couldn’t imagine it would be something like this,” Kimberly Paiz, Zapata’s daughter, said.

While Zapata’s loved ones try to wrap their heads around her sudden loss, they’re also trying their best to process their grief.

“It’s so hard because I don’t think I said ‘I love you’ enough to her,” Amanda Alonzo, the woman’s sister, said.

“It sounds like something from a movie,” Paiz said. “How is it that it’s her car and the tire hit her side? It doesn’t make sense and it will never make sense to me.”

Zapata’s family recalled the good times they had with her and remembered her fondly as being the foundation of their family. Determined to spread goodness in the world, Zapata was known for her kind heart and eagerness to help others.

“That’s all she wanted, making sure people had a better life,” Alonzo said. “Whichever way she could – cooking a meal, taking them to the airport of helping them with documents.”

“I spoke to her Sunday,” Paiz said. “We went to church and she held me a little longer that day. I keep going back to that. She held me and I look back thinking God gave me one last tight hug with my mom. I didn’t know it would be the last.”

The driver of the SUV involved in the incident was not hurt in the occurrence. It’s still unclear how the tire came off.

The case remains under investigation.