Erica Garner, daughter of police brutality victim Eric Garner, has now died after being declared brain dead on Friday. According to NPR, Garner’s official Twitter account announced her death Saturday morning. The 27-year-old activist had a heart attack last week, which ultimately lead to her being in a coma, ABC News reports.
She passed away this morning. The reports are real. We didn’t deserve her.
— officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) December 30, 2017
Erica the world loves you. I love you. I am glad you came into our lives. May you find the peace in the next life that you deserved while you were here. I will always love you my sister. love you
— officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) December 30, 2017
Garner’s mother, Esaw Snipes-Garner, told the New York Daily News that the heart attack was brought on during an asthma attack. According to NBC News, the activist had suffered a heart attack in August, due to an enlarged heart, after giving birth to her son.
Garner became an activist after her father, Eric Garner, died in 2014 after being placed in a chokehold by New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo, ABC News reports. According to ABC News, chokeholds are prohibited by the New York Police Department. The coroner ruled Eric Garner’s death as a homicide due to compression of the neck, NPR reports.
According to ABC News, Eric Garner’s final words, “I can’t breathe,” became a rallying cry for those protesting police brutality.
Erica Garner became an outspoken activist to end police brutality and a supporter of then presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, NBC News reports. She also appeared in a campaign advertisement for Sanders.
In the campaign advertisement, Garner explained why she became an activist, NPR reports.
“I’m just trying to get the truth out there to tell his side of the story. He was being a loving, caring man that he was, and he was murdered. For a whole year, I’ve protested every Tuesday and Thursday. I feel like a representative for people throughout this whole nation because I’m doing this, I’m speaking out, me being his daughter. And that’s what I want to do, I just want to tell my truths,” Garner said of her father.
“I’m never giving up,” Garner added. “I’m never going to forget. And I don’t want the world to forget what happened to my dad.”