Erica Garner, Police Reform Activist, In Coma After Heart Attack

NEW YORK, NY — Erica Garner, a leading police reform activist and the daughter of Eric Garner, is in a coma after suffering a heart attack, according to tweets and news reports. Garner, whose father's strangling death at the hands of an NYPD cop helped spark a national movement, has been in a hospital since Saturday night, news reports say.

Garner, 27, was still unconscious in Brooklyn's Woodhull Hospital as of Monday night, according to messages posted on her Twitter account. The Rev. Al Sharpton, a friend of Garner's family, tweeted that she had suffered a "serious heart attack."

Garner had an asthma attack on Saturday night that led to the heart attack, her mother, Esaw Snipes-Garner, told the New York Daily News. She was hospitalized and then put in a medically induced coma, Snipes-Garner told The New York Times.

"The Garner/Snipes family wants to thank you all for your prayers and support," a member of Garner's staff tweeted from her account on Monday morning. "At this moment there are no updates on Ericas (sic) condition. They ask that you take this holiday to enjoy your loved ones and for self care."

Garner's father, Eric, was choked to death by NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the summer of 2014. Video of the incident captured Eric Garner repeatedly shouting "I can't breathe" as cops piled on top of him, trying to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes. A grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo even though Garner's death was ruled a homicide.

Since her father's death, Erica Garner has become a major voice in the Black Lives Matter movement and in local activist efforts for greater police accountability. She also campaigned for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders last year as he sought the Democratic presidential nomination.

Garner gave birth to her second child — a son she named Eric in honor of her dad — in August and suffered a first cardiac arrest a few months ago, as the pregnancy put a strain on her enlarged heart, her family told the Daily News.

Her condition looked grave over the weekend, but the family is still holding out hope, they told the Daily News.

"Right now, the family is just praying and asking for everyone to keep her in their prayers," Snipes-Garner told the Times.

(Lead image: Erica Garner asks to speak with then-President Barack Obama during a July 2016 town hall event in Washington, D.C. Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)