A former police officer is appealing to the undocumented immigrant responsible for nearly taking her son’s life in a hit-and-run on his 21st birthday, urging him to emerge from hiding and take responsibility for his actions. 

“I keep emphasizing that this isn’t about legality or race. It’s simply about being a decent human being,” Sheena Carach, mother of the still-hospitalized Zach Carach, shared with Fox News Digital.

“This is a matter of right and wrong. When you hit someone, you stop. That’s just the humane thing to do. Failing to stop is inhumane and makes you a monster, regardless of who you are.”

Sheena Carach’s life was altered May 19 while she and her family were visiting Nashville from Florida to celebrate her son’s 21st birthday. After brunch and touring Music City, she said her son was struck by a speeding car while he was attempting to cross a street, and the driver sped away.

Tony Lopez-Infante, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, is accused of a hit-and-run crash that involved his rental car when he allegedly struck a Florida tourist on his 21st birthday in Nashville.  (Metropolitan Nashville Police Department)

“I will say it was a hard one for me when this first happened, and I didn’t feel like things were going as they should go. And I will say … that I won’t put that on the police department. I’ll put that on the mayor and everything that’s been brought to my attention,” Carach explained. 

She was referring to the backlash Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, a Democrat, has received. 

U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said O’Connell “condemned ICE’s good work, promoted a fund to provide support dollars for illegal immigrants and their families in Nashville and even updated an executive order to fast-track the collection of all Nashville government employees’ interactions with ICE.” 

“It is indefensible that blue city mayors like Mayor O’Connell in Nashville have violated their oath of office by prioritizing illegal aliens over the law-abiding citizens they were elected to serve,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital.

“The illegal alien wanted for a hit-and-run in Nashville that left a 21-year-old man wheelchair-bound is exactly the type of person the mayor is protecting. Mayors across the country have a choice: help get these people off our streets or jeopardize the safety of their residents.” 

O’Connell declined to comment to Fox News Digital. 

Law enforcement officials said that federal partners, including Homeland Security Investigations, are helping in the ongoing efforts to locate Lopez-Infante.

“For us, this has just been an ongoing nightmare. To know that this guy, that we’ve seen his face, we know who he is, he’s out there walking around free and then every single day we’re sitting by our son’s hospital bed,” Carach said. “So, for us, it’s kind of a little bit freeing, I guess, that you know they have now finally released his face to the public, and we can have that extra help in finding him.” 

Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com