The woman, partially paralyzed during a 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School, passed away last month, and her death is now deemed murder.
Anne Marie Hochhalter died of sepsis on February 16th at the age of 43. Complications from her paralysis contributed greatly to her death, according to a Jefferson County Coroner's Office autopsy report obtained by the Associated Press on Thursday.
Hochhalter was one of 23 survivors who were injured in a shooting at a high school in Littleton, Colorado.
Including her death, the Columbine shooting claimed that 14 casualties and one teacher were killed on the attack on April 20, 1999. Both the Shooters, who were students, took their lives.
Columbine High School Shooting Survivor dies nearly 26 years of massacre
In February 2025, the death of Anne Marie Hochhalter, who survived the Columbine High School massacre but partially paralyzed, was deemed a murder. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey, File)
Hochhalter's brother Nathan said the pain of infected pressure led to sepsis and knew that her condition would shorten her life, but her death was not predicted early.
“We didn't think this was that bad anytime soon,” he told the Associated Press.
Hochhalter was shot in the back and chest while eating in the school cafeteria, resulting in paralysis. She had suffered from severe pain for years after the shooting, but friends and family said she fought hard to overcome the complications that caused her injuries.
In 2016, Hochhalter wrote a letter of forgiveness to sue Klebold, the mother of one of the shooters.
“A good friend once told me, “Bitter taste is like swallowing poison and hoping that others will die.” It harms you.
File – Anne Marie Hochhalter will be attending a vigil of victims of a massive shooting at a cinema in Aurora, Colorado on July 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez, file)
Columbine shooting victims were honored in Denver on a 25th anniversary vigil
Hochhalter's own mother died of suicide six months after Columbine. She said her mother was suffering from depression and didn't believe the shooting was blamed on the tragedy.
After her mother's death, she was very close to the Townsend family, whose daughter Lauren was killed in the Columbine shooting.
“She has brought a long, bright light into our lives,” said Sue Townsend, Lauren's stepmother.
Columbine School shooting survivor Ann Marie Hochhalter (right) speaks with Sue Townsend, stepmother of shooting victim Lauren Townsend, at the 25th anniversary ceremony on April 19, 2024. (Marc Piscotty/Getty Images)
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After an upstairs that marked the 25th anniversary of the shooting last year, Hochhalter said he was filled with happy memories from his childhood, and that the victims wanted them to remember not how they died, but how they lived.
“Since the terrible day of 1999, I have really been able to heal my soul,” she wrote in a social media post.
