Tragic news from Salt Lake City—7-year-old Olivia Blackmer has passed away after a harrowing five-day battle for her life.
The young girl, who was shot in the head by her mother in a horrific murder-suicide that claimed the lives of her three sisters, succumbed to her injuries at Primary Children’s Hospital on Saturday afternoon.
Family Mourns Unimaginable Loss
Her stepmother, Katelynn Beatty, shared the heartbreaking update on a GoFundMe campaign set up to cover Olivia’s medical expenses.
“Olivia is with her sisters now,” Beatty wrote. “She gained her angel wings yesterday at 3:44 p.m.”
Despite undergoing emergency brain surgery and being kept heavily sedated, Olivia’s body ultimately could not recover from the trauma.
“She fought so, so hard until the last minute,” Beatty added. “Her body and brain had been through too much, and we reached a point where medical options were exhausted.”
A Mother’s Deadly Rampage
On February 10, Olivia’s mother, 32-year-old Tranyelle Harshman, carried out the unthinkable. In a murder-suicide at their Byron, Wyoming home, she shot and killed Olivia’s 9-year-old sister, Brailey, and her 2-year-old twin stepsisters, Brooke and Jordan, before turning the gun on herself.
Before taking her own life, Harshman called 911, telling dispatchers where authorities would find the children’s bodies. Officers arrived to find her still alive, but she later died at a Billings hospital.
A Community in Grief
The family, still reeling from the loss, took time to grieve before sharing the devastating update with the public.
“Olivia and Brailey knew how loved they were,” Beatty wrote. “This is going to be extremely hard, and we ask for prayers as we navigate this horrific tragedy.”
Their father, Quinn Blackmer, echoed those sentiments in an emotional Facebook post.
“The peace I find is knowing my babies don’t have to be apart,” he wrote. “They are together with their sisters.”
The family is now making funeral arrangements for Olivia.
Mother Struggled With Mental Health
Harshman had reportedly been struggling with postpartum depression and PTSD before the tragedy. The incident has left both sides of the family devastated, with the twins’ father, Cliff Harshman, expressing his grief and anger over what happened.
“I’m so angry,” he told KTVQ. “I don’t even know how to explain this to you. I’m so angry with her for the decision that was made.”
As the community mourns, loved ones continue to ask for support and prayers in the wake of this unimaginable tragedy.
