Erica Garner, the daughter of the man who died following a struggle with officers where he resisted arrest and infamously said “I can’t breathe,” has died of a heart attack at age 27.
At the time of the incident involving her father, many attributed the death to a chokehold an NYPD Officer used on the 6’3″, 350-pound man who was resisting arrest for illegally selling cigarettes. The cause of death for Eric Garner was heart disease, obesity, chronic bronchial asthma and compression of neck and chest during physical restraint by police.
The officer who put Garner in the chokehold was not indicted on any charges related to the incident. In spite of the officer being cleared, the city of New York settled with Garner’s estate for nearly $6 million.
The initial outrage throughout the country and perpetrated by media outlets like CNN was that Garner was choked to death, even though he did not die of asphyxiation. He died of underlying medical conditions that were triggered by his arrest, which he was resisting which then required the use of physical force.
His daughter, Erica, has tragically passed at an extremely young age due to health condition as well. She leaves behind two children.
