NEW YORK (AP) — The daughter of Black Lives Matter icon Eric Garner has died after a weeklong hospital stay following a heart attack.
FILE- In this April 27, 2015 file photo, Erica Garner, the daughter of Eric Garner, poses for a photo as she attends the funeral for Freddie Gray in Baltimore. Garner, daughter of Black Lives Matter icon Eric Garner died in New York on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017, after a weeklong hospital stay following a heart attack. (AP Photo/Amanda Meyers, File)
The Rev. Al Sharpton, in announcing Garner’s death Saturday, says she fought for justice and was “a warrior to the end.” She died in a New York hospital. She was 27.
Garner’s official Twitter account, run by her family and friends since she became ill, asked that she be remembered as a mother, daughter, sister and aunt with a heart “bigger than the world.”
Her father, Eric Garner, died after a police officer subdued him with a chokehold in 2014. His last words were “I can’t breathe,” which became a slogan for activists.
Erica Garner became a voice for police accountability after his death, criticizing Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio over policing matters. In 2016, she campaigned on behalf of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent, for president.
Garner’s mother, Esaw Snipes, told The New York Times previously that Garner, who gave birth four months ago, had learned during the pregnancy that she had heart problems.
Snipes said Garner had a heart attack after an asthma episode and was placed in a medically induced coma.