28-year-old mother celebrating good grades killed on Castro Valley freeway ID'd

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. - A young mother who was out celebrating her good grades but ended up getting out of a Chevrolet Malibu on the freeway and then was fatally struck by an oncoming Honda CRV has been identified.

The Alameda County Coroner said Amber Reaves, 28, of Turlock, is the young woman who was killed Monday morning at Interstate Highway 580 and the 238 connector in Castro Valley about 5 a.m.

The California Highway Patrol said for some reason, Reaves got out of her car, which had several passengers, and then began to walk along the road. That reason has yet to be explained. 

But after she got out, Reaves was struck by a Honda CRV driven by a 71-year-old Castro Valley woman who was eastbound on I-580, Jacowitz said.

Reaves was pronounced dead on scene. 

Both drivers stayed and cooperated, the CHP said.

Ashley Praxmarer of Apple Valley didn't discuss the circumstances of her sister's death. 

But she did tell KTVU in an interview on Thursday that she was with two friends in the car and that foul play is not suspected.

Now, Praxmerer is trying to raise money for Reaves' three children, ages 9, 8 and almost 2. Even before her death, Reaves had been struggling financially. She had also been caring for her mother. 

Reaves was out in the Bay Area with friends, her sister said, to celebrate the straight A's she was getting at Modesto Junior College. 

She had wanted to treat herself with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge and then head back home to Turlock before her children woke up.

But she never made it home. 

Praxmerer said that her sister was trying to "carve her own path in life and was trying to make a better life for herself and her children when it ended too soon." 

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED: A GoFundMe has been started for Reaves' children.