"But I shouldn't be living in fear, because I am not going to give up. I'm not," Flor Zarzoza-Almendarez said. "My husband gave up his life for me, and not just me, for the community."
The bill, which is named for her late husband, adds a specific theft offense in the penal code for catalytic converter theft. It also creates a penalty enhancement for those who possess a firearm during the crime.
Nearly one year ago, Almendarez was killed while confronting suspected thieves who were reportedly in the process of stealing a catalytic converter from his personal truck outside a grocery store.
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During her testimony, Zarzoza-Almendarez described the moment she and her husband left the store, and her life changed forever.
"All I remember him saying was, 'Wait baby. Just wait right here.' Just a few feet from me. The next thing I hear? Run," Zarzoza-Almendarez recalled. "This whole time, we're just looking at each other. I was looking at him. And just that image of me turning around, hearing the gunshot... but I didn't think he got shot because he was such a brave man."
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"[I] turn around all I hear is 'Call 911.' [He's] walking around, he's just walking around," she continued.
"I see my husband, he approaches me, we hug," the widow recalled. "But I know, when we held onto each other, he just told me he couldn't breathe and that he loved me. We kissed, and that was his last breath."
Three people were arrested and charged with Almendarez's murder. Their cases are currently working through the legal system.
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Investigators said they were part of a bigger catalytic converter theft ring.
Zarzoza-Almendarez told the senate committee she goes to every single hearing because she's not giving up on getting justice for her husband.
The bill advanced out of committee on Tuesday and now heads to the senate floor for a full vote.