Mother of 2 walking along street killed in hit-and-run

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County mother of two is being mourned after police said a hit-and-run driver killed her in Stone Mountain.

Police said it happened Sunday around 10:15 p.m. as 39-year-old Monica Tamez walked along Redan Road, which has no sidewalks for pedestrians.

The driver appears to have had no intention of sticking around for police until a witness followed him long enough to identify him the next day.

Tamez's father told Channel 2 Action News he has questions about why the incident happened.

"How can anybody do this?" he asked. "She was my girl, my baby. I still considered her my baby."

He's still coping with life without his daughter.

"The fact she's permanently gone kind of makes me sick to my stomach," he said.

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Tamez's family said she was nearly home when the driver hit her.

A witness told police the driver got out of his car to look at who he had hit and then got back in his car and left.

"It makes me mad and it makes me sad that there's people out there that don't care nothing about life," her father said.

Police arrested Earl Barnes III the next day, in part because they said the witness was able to follow the suspect and report back to officers.

"Because of him, they found the person that did it," Tamez's father said. "Because of him, there's closure."

The Tamez family said they're thankful they do not have to wonder who did the crime. Now they just are left wondering why.

In 2016, Barnes pled guilty to misdemeanor DUI. He was able to post bond and be released from jail.

Cox Media Group