A woman who was shot and left paralyzed while protesting a police-involved shooting in a Portland park in 2022 has died after choosing to be taken off the ventilator that was keeping her alive.
The woman, who only gave her name as “Deg”, reportedly asked to be taken off the life preserver on July 1 and died the following day. Oregonian.
She became the second person to die in the February 19, 2022, shooting in Normandale Park, where gunman Benjamin Smith shot and killed five people during planned protests in response to the police-involved shooting death of Amir Locke.
The victim, a 32-year-old woman, was shot in the neck during the shooting, with the bullet piercing her phrenic nerve and leaving her paralyzed from the shoulders down.
According to the media, Daegu decided to be taken off the ventilator after suffering from pneumonia three times and having limited social interactions for more than two years due to the ongoing risk of a deadly respiratory infection since he was shot.
Once an independent young woman whose hobbies were traveling and hiking, Degu’s injuries mean she is no longer able to walk for more than an hour without help.
“She was completely out of control,” her mother told the outlet, asking that neither her name nor her daughter’s full name be published to protect their privacy.
“It was her decision. I couldn’t argue with her. But we miss her so much.”
Before his death, Daegu reportedly hosted his own birthday party for 40 family and friends.
“For the first time in two and a half years, my daughter was able to enjoy time with her loved ones without a mask and without any fear,” her mother said.
According to the media, Daegu was removed from the ventilator on July 1 and died at around noon the following day at his childhood home.
Her cause of death was determined to be complications from a gunshot wound to the neck.
According to the media outlet, Degu’s death has now been recorded as a murder.
Smith, 44, pleaded guilty in March 2023 to nine charges, including second-degree murder and multiple counts of attempted murder.
The convicted murderer was sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after 55 years.
Smith lived across the street from Normandale Park and was said to have become increasingly “radicalised” towards liberal policies.
“He’d been talking about wanting to do this for a while. He was pissed off about mask mandates, he was pissed off about damn liberals,” said his roommate, Kristin Christenson. He told Oregon Public Broadcasting A few days after the shooting.
Christenson said she had been worried about living with him even before the shooting.
She argued that Smith grew angry during the latter stages of the Obama administration and that his behavior worsened during the pandemic.
“As the years went by, he became more and more extreme,” Christenson told the outlet. “He got angrier and angrier… I didn’t feel safe around him, especially during the last two years of COVID, and I think that made him even more angry.”
Christenson said Smith frequently made rants about Black Lives Matter demonstrators and other protesters in Portland and was also an avid gun collector who would sometimes show off weapons and threaten homeless people.
On Feb. 19, 2022, Smith opened fire with a .45-caliber handgun, wounding a man in the lower abdomen and intestines when he returned fire with a rifle during a rampage.
But Smith had already shot five people, including June Knightley, before he was neutralized, the report said. 8. King George.
Knightley, 60, had been at the scene to help direct traffic at the protest when he was shot at close range in the head and died at the scene, police said. Exit.
It is unclear whether Smith will face new charges following Degg’s death.
