Her family says online prescription drugs slowly killed the Bakersfield woman, and might be to blame for the crash.
The family says it's not the type of drug addiction you commonly hear of, they say Laura Clearwater was addicted to a muscle relaxer she ordered online.
Her family says they finally convinced her to get help, but it was too late.
20-year-old Sara Bear describes her mother as her best friend, the person she turned to when she needed help.
But Sara says six months ago the roles reversed, and she began caring for her mother.
"She stumbled around if she took one or two and then I noticed her speech slurring and then it got to where she couldn't walk," said Sara.
She says her mom started taking a muscle relaxer called Soma after she hurt her back skiing.
But 44-yr-old Laura Clearwater's family says she quickly became addicted.
They say the drug was originally prescribed by a doctor, but then Clearwater started ordering the drugs from an online pharmacy and every week pills arrived at their doorstep.
"A 3 months supply at least every 2 weeks was debited right out of our account," said husband Jerry Clearwater.
Clearwater's husband and her children say they called the online pharmacy and even sent emails, but the drugs kept coming.
"If she was buying coke or crack, the cops could step in and that's illegal but because it was an online pharmacy, we were powerless against it."
And at around 5:30 on Friday evening, police say Clearwater was driving on White Lane when she cut across all lanes of traffic, hit a street sign, cut back across the lanes two more times, and then hit a tree. Investigators say cCearwater died about an hour later.
Clearwater's son, Joshua Huff had warned his mother before the accident.
"I told her someday something is going to happen and you need to get off it."
Her family doesn't know the exact cause of the crash but says they want to warn others about the power of prescription drugs and the deadly addiction that stole their mother's life.
The corner's office says it has not determined if drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash.
Officials say an autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow.
