The sister of a woman killed in a fiery suspected DUI crash in Rialto along with her 8-year-old daughter said the father of the girl lost his whole life in an instant, down to the family dog that was also in the car.
"She was amazing. The best mom to Marlee. Marlee was her whole world. She would do anything for her," Haley Labrada said.
She was describing her 33-year-old sister Ashley Gilroy, and Ashley's 8-year-old daughter Marlee Maldonado.
Get Southern California news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC LA newsletters.
"Marlee had so much light. She was so smart," Labrada said. "She always said she wanted to be a scientist and they were good people and I want everyone to know that."
Both were so loved and cherished by their family.
"My sister is so selfless. I got engaged after her and she didn't want to take my spotlight away even though she got engaged first and she helped me plan my whole wedding that is just the type of person she was," Labrada said.
Monday evening around 6:30 p.m., Gilroy and Marlee and their dog Phoebe were heading home to Highland after spending the day with Gilroy's oldest sister who still lives in their childhood home in Rialto.
Police say she and Marlee were waiting to turn at the intersection of Valley and Riverside when a Jeep traveling 80 to 100 mph plowed into them, causing an explosion.
The ball of flames was so intense that good Samaritans couldn't save anyone.
"We searched and searched. Her phone was going straight to voicemail. And this whole time she was two blocks away from my oldest sister's house. We had no idea until we filed a missing persons report, and then Rialto PD got in contact with my bother-in-law and asked him to come to the police department so they could tell him in person," Labrada said.
Officers gave Rocky Maldonado, Gilroy's fiancé and Marlee's father, the devastating news.
"His whole life was in that car down to his dog," she said. "He gets to go home to nothing now and that's what I want people to know."
Investigators say the driver of the Jeep, 35-year-old Paul Larios, had also died at the scene.
They say he struck other vehicles just prior to hitting Gilroy's car.
The driver may have been drinking because officers say they found beer cans in the Jeep.
"Something needs to be done because the families that go through this, they will remember it for the rest of their lives, Labrada said. "An 8-year-old was taken from us. She had her whole life ahead of her."
Labrada created a GoFundMe to help pay for a special memorial for her sister and her niece. Search "RAM Family Memorial." By late Wednesday, it had raised about half of its $30,000 goal.
"And I just hope that they were not in pain at all," Labrada said.
