Victim’s family gathers at MGH

Zepeda had been in the intensive care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital with serious head injuries since Wednesday morning, when a driver hit him as he loaded his 1-year-old son into a car on a Brighton street.

“They did everything they could, but they could not save him,’’ his brother, Jairo Oswaldo Latin Zepeda, said outside the hospital last night.

Worn from hours of waiting by his brother’s side without sleep, Jairo said he only wants justice.

The driver, Cathy Bergin-August, 47, of Watertown, pleaded not guilty at her arraignment yesterday in Brighton Municipal Court and was released on $1,000 cash bail. The charges against her include leaving the scene of an accident where a person was injured.

Bergin-August has been found responsible in five crashes in the past five years.

Police said that after Zepeda, 36, was hit, Bergin-August kept going for nearly two blocks until another car forced her to pull over.

But attorney J.W. Carney Jr., who is defending Bergin-August, denied yesterday that she was leaving the scene of the accident.

“My client wasn’t fleeing,’’ he said. “She was looking for a safe place to pull over.’’

He said Bergin-August extended sympathy to the family for the “tragic accident.’’

“My client’s heart goes out to the family of Mr. Zepeda,’’ Carney said. “She wishes him a speedy recovery.’’

But the family is outraged, they said last night, that Bergin-August was released on bail.

“She ruined our lives in a second; she can ruin someone else’s tomorrow,’’ said Jairo’s wife, Ada Mari Sosa.

Jairo said his brother, an immigrant from Guatemala, will no longer be able to go to church on Sundays or train with him at the gym. Zepeda’s baby son, Randi, and an older son who lives in Guatemala will no longer have a father, he said.

“We are going through a terrible moment we would not wish on anybody,’’ Jairo said.

Bergin-August had a bottle of prescription pills in her rental car that carried a warning label about causing drowsiness, according to a police report filed in court, but she was not charged with driving while impaired or under the influence.

According to the police report, Bergin-August had a prescription bottle with 20 green tablets labeled Clonazepam with her in the car. She told police she takes the medication to treat Tourette syndrome.

The police report noted that the “prescription bottle stated the prescription may cause drowsiness; use care using machines.’’ Police also found an empty bottle of Clonazepam in the car.

Bergin-August has lived in Watertown for the past 30 years and has worked as a nurse’s aide and a home healthcare aide, Carney told the court. Bergin-August’s mother and two grown sons sat in the public gallery yesterday to support her during her arraignment.

The police report said Bergin-August hit Zepeda in front of his home while he was loading his son into a 1998 Toyota Corolla. The boy was not injured.

A livery driver in a black Lincoln Town Car saw the collision and followed Bergin-August. The livery driver “was blowing his horn, and he finally pulled alongside her and shouted for her to pull over, which she finally did at 581 Cambridge St.,’’ according to the police report.

Bergin-August had previously been found responsible for five car crashes since 2004, according to driving records released by the Registry of Motor Vehicles under the state’s public records law.

In addition to the five crashes - three in Watertown, one in Brookline, and one in Boston - Bergin-August has a driving record dating back to 1986 that includes violations for failure to drive safely, failure to wear a seat belt, and failure to register a motor vehicle.

Following the Wednesday crash, the Registry indefinitely suspended Bergin-August’s license, deeming her an “immediate threat.’’

Yesterday, Ronny Oliveira described the scene after Zepeda was struck as he was loading his son into his car around 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Oliveira said he saw two women in their 20s outside his office on Cambridge Street running toward a bleeding man lying on the street. A few minutes later, one of the women was inside the used car dealership where Oliveira works with tears in her eyes.

“I saw two ladies who work at a hospital in Boston, and they went there to help the guy,’’ Oliveira recalled yesterday. “After that, one lady came in the office. She had blood on her hands. She asked me . . . to wash her hands. It was horrible. It was awful.’’

The family of Zepeda, who worked as a drywall hanger, has been devastated, Michael Keohane, their attorney, said in a phone interview. “They are trying to work through even the basic elements of this. It’s really tough for them.’’

Zepeda’s wife, Milvia, said his 9-year-old son in Guatemala cried on the phone when she told him the news about his father.

“I’m left alone to keep fighting, to raise our sons,’’ said Milvia, who works as a nanny. “I will keep going.’’

The family is raising money to send Zepeda’s body back to Guatemala, she said.