Erica Garner, Moved to Activism After Dad's Death, Dies At 27

NEW YORK, NY — Erica Garner, the 27-year-old who became an activist after the death of her father while in police custody three years ago, died Saturday morning. She had been in a coma since suffering a massive heart attack last week.

"She passed away this morning," her family wrote in an announcement of Garner's death on her Twitter page. "The reports are real. We didn't deserve her."

Garner seared on to the national consciousness when her father, Eric, died while in police custody in 2014. Police were arresting him for selling loose cigarettes when an officer placed him in a chokehold.

Nearly one dozen times, he said "I can't breathe."

He died soon after arriving at a hospital.

While the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, a grand jury chose not to indict the officer. The city did pay the Garner family a multi-million dollar settlement in response to the wrongful death suit that they had filed.

Erica Garner was moved to action after her father's death, setting up a foundation in his honor.

She also frequently criticized the NYPD and Mayor Bill de Blasio, helping spur the department to take another look at how it deploys officers in communities and its use-of-force policy.

Garner was rushed to the hospital last week after suffering a heart attack. It was her second one, her family said. She had suffered an attack in August after her son was born.

"Erica the world loves you," her family wrote on Twitter. "I am glad you came into our lives. May you find the peace in the next life that you deserved while you were here."

The family also had a plea for reporters to keep something in mind while writing of her death.

"When you report this you remember she was human: mother, daughter, sister, aunt. Her heart was bigger than the world. It really really was," the family wrote. "She cared when most people wouldn't have. She was good. She only pursued right, no matter what.

"No one gave her justice."

Photo showing Garner (at left) with her mother and the Rev. Al Sharpton earlier this year after meeting with Department of Justice officials via Drew Angerer/Getty Images News/Getty Images.