Columbine High School shooting death toll climbs nearly 26 years later as survivor’s death ruled homicide

COLORADO (KRDO) – Nearly 26 years later, the death toll of the 1999 Columbine High School mass shooting has risen by one after the February death of a survivor of the shooting was ruled a homicide.

Anne Marie Hochhalter, who was shot and paralyzed from the waist down in the massacre, died on Feb. 16 at the age of 43. Her death was originally believed to have been from natural causes.

But in a recently completed autopsy report, the Jefferson County Coroner's Office said her manner of death was "best classified as homicide.'

According to our Denver news partners, the report states that Hochhalter died of sepsis, with complications from paraplegia due to the two gunshot wounds she survived serving as a “significant contributing factor.”

The ruling means that the death toll from the April 20, 1999 shooting has risen to a total of 13 students and one teacher.

In the decades following the shooting, Hochhalter used her platform to advocate for other victims of mass violence and raise awareness for the paraplegic community.

In 2016, Hochhalter wrote a letter forgiving shooter Dylan Klebold's mother.

Hochhalter missed the 20th anniversary vigil due to post-traumatic stress disorder, but made it to the 25th vigil last year, writing on Facebook that it had been the "most healing" for her.

"I’ve truly been able to heal my soul since that awful day in 1999," she wrote in a Facebook post.