(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 year after Hemati separated from her husband.

“She was in a bad way when she got away from her ex-husband,” he said, describing years of alleged abuse in Glendale that left her fearful and distrustful. “She really was a pleasant woman to be around for many years, but in recent weeks we heard she had a mental break.”

He said Hemati, who had immigrated from Iran, had recently lost her job at a Casa Grande Marshalls store and had distanced herself from family friends after accusing them of stealing from her and drugging her. Those unfounded accusations came as a shock; meanwhile, she was becoming more religiously fanatical.

“We thought she just needed time to herself,” he said. “My mother suggested she move out and fix herself. She left hastily and beside herself. I’m worried that how she felt led her to her accident.”

Public records show Hemati admitted to running a red light in Scottsdale last year but otherwise had no criminal or traffic history. The Pinal County Vehicular Crimes Unit continues to investigate whether impairment factored into the crash.

Munoz’s widow, Imelda Ocano, announced yesterday that she is seeking community support to fulfill her husband’s wish of being buried in his native Guadalajara, Mexico.

The Sept. 19 collision closed SR 347 near Sonoran Desert Parkway for several hours as emergency crews responded.

Here is today’s full statement, unedited:

“Masoumeh Hemati is a family friend and has been for several years now. She suffered from long term marital abuse by her late husband, and her sons all treat her the same in similar ways. She recently got away from him, but she has been living in fear ever since we’ve known her from him. He was known to have sent people after her to attack her or her things. So, she appeared paranoid to most other people. Being a victim is what she plays best at and knowing how she was treated ever since she has been in this country just explains a lot of it.

She had been living with my mother at my mother’s home in Maricopa for about a year, and prior to that at my grandparent’s home in Cave Creek, AZ for a few years as well. She was in a bad way when she got away from her ex-husband and struggled to run her consignment at-home-business. Then she had stayed shortly in a hospital for mental illness issues. According to her son she had been taking medication for an illness that never was disclosed to us or my mother, and in recent weeks we heard she had a mental break, which lead to her accident. I do not know if this was a cause, but she was certainly devastated from her recent losses her mental break has caused. She broke her friendship with my mother by accusing her of stealing from her and further accusing her of drugging her. Out of all these years never once has this ever occurred, and her behavior caught my family by surprise.

When we thought she just needed time to herself my mother suggested to her to move out and fix herself. She left hastily and beside herself. I’m worried that how she felt led her to her accident. Since she left, she not once called or informed us of anything, and we heard about what happened from your article. She was working at Marshalls in Casa Grande, AZ; and I was told she had been recently fired from her position. Also, she is very religious in Christianity, outwardly praying for everyone and seemingly supplicating in private, but this mental break makes me think there was more to this, and everything was not what it may have seemed.

I do not think she was receiving medical support through the time my family has known her, in fact I probably do not know her as well as others in my family. But I am the only one that feels like I can talk about her to the media. So, I hope I can lead you to investigate what really happened to her to cause this horrific accident. She really was a pleasant woman to be around for many years.”