TEMPE, Ariz. - A 21-year-old woman from New Jersey has died after being dragged alongside a car during a purse snatching near Phoenix.

Police said Arizona State University student Kyleigh Sousa, of the Toms River area, was seen talking to a man in a car in Tempe around early Wednesday morning.

Police said he grabbed her purse and sped away, but Sousa became entangled in the handbag and was dragged about 20 feet before she came loose and hit the asphalt.

"The injuries were so severe – there was nothing they can do. There was no surgery that could put her back together. The only thing that they did was keep her alive until I came here," said Karen Montenegro, the victim's mother.

Police said they are still working to find the car's driver.