DENVER — The loss of life of a girl who was partially paralyzed within the Columbine Excessive Faculty taking pictures has been dominated a murder, elevating the loss of life toll of the 1999 assault to 14.
Anne Marie Hochhalter died Feb. 16 of sepsis – an excessive response to an infection – and problems from her paralysis had been a “important contributing issue” in her loss of life, the Jefferson County Coroner’s Workplace mentioned in an post-mortem report obtained Thursday. She was 43.
Twelve college students and one trainer had been shot and killed on April 20, 1999, within the assault on Columbine. The 2 scholar gunmen took their very own lives.
Hochhalter’s brother, Nathan Hochhalter, mentioned a strain sore, a typical downside for folks residing with paralysis, led to sepsis. He mentioned he knew that his sister’s life would probably be shorter due to her paralysis however her loss of life this early was surprising.
“We did not assume it will be this unhealthy this quickly,” he mentioned.
Hochhalter struggled with intense ache from her gunshot wounds within the years following the taking pictures, however fought exhausting to to beat the problems of her accidents and stay optimistic, household and pals mentioned. She was tireless in her drive to assist others, together with folks with disabilities and members of her household, and she or he liked canines, they mentioned.
Hochhalter selected to forgive the mom of one of many gunmen, writing in a 2016 letter to Sue Klebold: “‘A great pal as soon as advised me, ‘Bitterness is like swallowing a poison tablet and anticipating the opposite individual to die.’ It solely harms your self. I’ve forgiven you and solely want you the very best.”
Hochhalter’s personal tragedy was compounded six months after the taking pictures, when her mom, Carla Hochhalter, died by suicide. Anne Marie Hochhalter mentioned her mom suffered from melancholy and didn’t consider the shootings had been on to blame for her mom’s loss of life.
The video within the participant above is from a earlier report.
After her mom’s passing, she turned the “acquired daughter” of one other household that misplaced a toddler within the Columbine taking pictures, Lauren Townsend. Townsend’s stepmother, Sue Townsend, reached out to assist Hochhalter as a method to deal with her personal grief, however finally Hochhalter was coming over for household dinners and becoming a member of them on holidays.
“She introduced a light-weight to our lives that may shine for a very long time,” Townsend mentioned.
Hochhalter attended a vigil marking the twenty fifth anniversary of the taking pictures final yr, after skipping an analogous occasion 5 years earlier due to post-traumatic stress dysfunction, she mentioned in a social media put up.
This time she mentioned she was flooded with glad reminiscences from her childhood and mentioned she needed these killed remembered for the way they lived, not how they died.
“I’ve actually been capable of heal my soul since that terrible day in 1999,” she wrote.
READ ALSO | Columbine survivor Anne Marie Hochhalter, who forgave gunman’s mom, has died
Copyright © 2025 by The Related Press. All Rights Reserved.
