CRESCENT CITY, Calif. (AP) — A 14-year-old California girl who was gravely wounded after she and her mother were shot by a man they moved 350 miles to hide from has been taken off life support.
Del Norte County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Bill Steven says Cecilia Mortenson was removed from life support Friday after her organs were harvested for donation.
Authorities say 60-year-old Jerry Wayne Steele shot the girl and her mother Tuesday at a trailer park in Crescent City, near the Oregon border. He then killed himself at a nearby beach parking lot.
Steven says the mother survived and has been released from the hospital.
Steele had been facing child molestation charges in Santa Clara County and was under a restraining order to stay away from the girl.
Authorities say the mother and daughter recently moved to Crescent City from the San Francisco Bay area to hide from Steele. Detectives are still trying to determine how he found them.
