Noemi Perez told her mother Sunday afternoon she was driving to Lamont to work on a school project with a friend. Her mother never saw her alive again.
On Monday, friends and family gathered at Perez's Arvin home in Arvin to remember the 18-year-old who wanted to major in math at Cal State Bakersfield.
In high school, she was an all-around athlete, excelling in basketball and running.
When she enrolled at CSUB last fall, Perez joined the cross country team, and was practicing with the track and field team.
She was set to run her first race in just a few weeks.
Now those closest to her are mourning the loss of someone on the verge of a successful life.
"She always got along with anybody," says Jessica Ramirez, her sister-in-law. "She was a happy person and she has a lot of people that did love her, and will still love her no matter what."
Former high school teammate Yesenia Fuentes describes Perez's toughness on the track.
"She was like the strongest, the strongest person I ever met," Fuentes said.
Her CSUB track coach will always remember her smile, and her potential.
"She was doing everything to be a success," Robert Boyles. "Her whole life, she was working it to be a success. And to have a sweet young lady like that ... and it's gone for nothing."
Perez was killed just after 5 p.m. Sunday on Bear Mountain Boulevard near Vineland Road, just west of downtown Arvin.
The CHP says 22-year-old Francisco Santo was drunk and speeding as he headed east on Bear Mountain Boulevard when he crossed the center line and struck a Mazda driven by Francisco Becerra, 33, of Bakersfield.
Santo's car glanced off the Mazda and hit the Hyundai driven by Perez head-on.
Perez died instantly.
Santo suffered what were described as moderate injuries. He was taken to Kern Medical Center and booked into the downtown jail in lieu of $122,000 bail. He was booked on charges of vehicular manslaughter, drunken driving and driving without a license in his possession. He was tentatively set for a court appearance Tuesday.
No funeral date has been set for Perez.
