Eric Garner’s Activist Daughter in Coma After Heart Attack

The eldest daughter of Eric Garner, who died after a New York City police officer held him in a fatal chokehold, is in a coma following a massive heart attack.

Posts on 27-year-old Erica Garner’s verified Twitter account confirm that she is still in critical condition, but she has not died, despite a report from the New York Daily News.

The most recent update on Garner’s condition was shared on Twitter Wednesday evening.

“Cat scan shows Erica suffered major brain damage from a lack of oxygen while in cardiac arrest,” the tweet said. “Please continue to pray hard for Erica and pray for her family and kids just as much.”

Rev. Al Sharpton tweeted earlier this week that Garner, who became an activist after her father’s death, had suffered a heart attack.

“Leaving hospital after praying for Erica Snipes, daughter of Eric Garner, who suffered a serious heart attack,” he wrote on Twitter. “Please PRAY for her.”

Sharpton said he has been with the family every day. “It’s just sad to see her laying there and not the active Erica that we know,” he said.

The Daily Times published a report that Garner had been declared “brain dead with no chance of recovery” on Thursday, and while Garner’s Twitter account retweeted the story, they have not issued an original message of confirmation.

Instead, a message was posted accusing the outlet of reporting “hearsay.”

“I know that the @NYDailyNews didn’t get their information from anyone that heard it straight from a doctors mouth because only one person was in the room when the results were read. That person was me,” Garner’s account manager wrote. “I called each family member. So they are reporting 3 person hearsay.”

Other Twitter users claim to have visited Garner, who remains in a coma, and their messages have also been retweeted by the verified account.

Of those messages was one by social commentator Shaun King, who says he visited Garner and the family Thursday morning.

“She does have limited brain function but doctors say they see some activity. Her condition is no doubt critical, but the family was encouraged this afternoon,” he wrote.

Garner’s father Eric was killed in 2014 after New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo attempted to arrest him for allegedly selling cigarettes illegally. Pantaleo tackled him from behind and put him in a department-banned chokehold on the ground.

Eric, who had asthma, was pronounced dead by homicide, but a grand jury did not indict Pantaleo on criminal charges. Instead, the city of New York settled with Eric’s estate for $5.9 million.

Following her father’s slaying, Garner became an activist fighting police brutality and became a voice of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Still, Garner focused on protecting all lives from abuses of power, particularly at the hands of police.

“I can’t really say it’s a black and white issue,” she told CNN’s Don Lemon. “It’s about the police officers and abusing their power.”

Photo credit: Getty / Andrew Burton