Driver Mistakes Gas for Brakes, Kills Woman in Front of Daughter

A woman was killed in front of her 20-year-old daughter Monday morning when a driver accidentally stepped on the gas instead of the brakes, deputies said.

The woman stepped out of a dry cleaning facility in the Casa De Oro neighborhood of Spring Valley just before 11 a.m. Monday when the driver struck her, said Brian Pennings, California Highway Patrol spokesperson.

The woman was identified by the medical examiner as Pamela LeBlanc, 45, of Spring Valley.

The 22-year-old driver told investigators that she saw LeBlanc walk out of the door into a drive-through area of the laundry facility with her 20-year-old daughter.

The drive-through laundry facility's door opens into the drive-through, Pennings said.

“She panicked, and she tried to hit the break and she hit the accelerator,” said Jay Moon, the laundry facility’s manager.

The impact of the collision trapped LeBlanc beneath the car. Bystanders used a car jack from an auto repair shop to pull her out. Multiple witnesses came to her aid.

LeBlanc was transported to the hospital with injuries throughout her body. She later succumbed to her injuries, despite aggressive medical intervention, the medical examiner said.

“I was hoping she would be okay, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case,” Moon said.