SAN ANTONIO — Eric Mendoza's mother would prefer to be boasting about his achievements, marriage and possibly a grandchild. But that's impossible.
"You wake up, and it's the first thing that's on my mind," Patty Hernandez said. "It doesn't go away."
Mendoza lost his life in a road rage incident on Oct. 21, 2010. Hernandez said the day began like any other, with Mendoza, who she describes as shy and athletic, going to the gym for a morning workout.
According to his mother, he pulled long hours at the Frito Lay warehouse where he worked.
She said he was on 35 North near Rittiman Road. His coworkers saw her 20-year-old son's arm out the window. Whatever happened then must have set his killer off.
"He tells his friend, you know, 'Somebody cut me off,'" Hernandez said. "'And they're following me.'"
She said her son, who exited the interstate, believed that he'd given his followers the slip after a series of turns. His safety maneuver into a nearby subdivision turned violent.
"And they ambushed him at that point," she said.
The Wagner High School graduate tried to get away from the shooters.
San Antonio Police said he crashed into several vehicles before coming to a stop along the 5000 block of Village Path. Homeowners heard gunshots before seeing a speeding vehicle leaving the scene.
"To this day, there's not been anyone that has come forward with any information," Hernandez said.
That was 10 years ago. Today, Hernandez, her youngest son Patrick and other loved ones are left with grief and a quest for justice.
"That's the reason I'm still here, because Eric deserves justice," she said.
Crime Stoppers and Mendoza's family are offering a guaranteed $20,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in Mendoza's murder.
It's the latest in a series of ideas Hernandez and police are using to drum up leads.
Hernandez said the two people in the dark-colored Dodge Stratus who killed her son would get theirs.
"Nobody leaves this Earth without paying for what they've done," she said.
In the meantime, she wonders what her son could have been. He was studying fire science at Northwest Vista College, and could have been an emergency responder by now.
He was also an altar boy in their parish. Most of all, he is missed, and his mother is determined to help find his killer.
"If we had one good lead that would break this case, I could start a new beginning," she said. "I could let Eric rest in peace."