(First InMaricopa) A Maricopa man says the woman identified in last week’s fatal wrong-way crash on John Wayne Parkway had been struggling with personal and mental health issues in the months leading up to the head-on collision.
Authorities say 61-year-old Masoumeh Hemati entered the southbound lanes of State Route 347 while driving north near Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino last Friday night, colliding head-on with a Ford F-150. The truck’s driver, 55-year-old Jose de Jesus “Chuy” Montoya Munoz of Hidden Valley , died at the scene. Hemati was hospitalized in critical condition, where she remains.
This morning, a 45-year-old Sorrento man who described Hemati as a family friend contacted InMaricopa to share his perspective. He said his mother took Hemati into her Maricopa home for about a ye