Ronni Newt, 26, was heading out to meet friends last Saturday when she was shot around 5 p.m. on the 101 northbound at White Oak Avenue.
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"She said that she would be back in a couple of hours because we were going to decorate our tree," said Francine Webster, Ronni's mother.
Newt's parents have been at her side at a Northridge hospital every day since the shooting.
"This is the call you never want to get. This is the thing as a parent you fear," said Robert Newt, the victim's father. "I pray every night for my kids to be protected."
Police suspect the shooting may be a road-rage incident.
"It's beyond me that something could be said that could actually make you pull out a gun and shoot somebody," Robert Newt said.
California Highway Patrol officers responded after a passerby found Newt wounded inside her black Audi sedan.
Loved ones described Newt as someone who can light up a room.
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"She has a lot of personality. She knows what she wants," Webster said. "She's very direct, and she has a lot of life."
The family is appealing to the public for help, offering a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect.
"If you saw anything... anything that was strange, anything out of the ordinary. If you saw the color of the car, if you saw the make of the car - no clue is too small," Robert Newt said.
Family and friends pray that she will recover.
"She has a big heart, she cares, she cares a lot," Webster said. "There are a lot of people that love her that are supporting her, that want to see whoever did this to her apprehended."