Olivia Blackmer, Byron, Wyoming girl dies 6 days after her mom, Tranyelle Harshman shoots her and 3 sibling sisters and self dead. 7 year old girl had been sole survivor of murder-suicide as its revealed mom was suffering acute mental health crises.
A 7 year old girl who was the sole survivor of her mother’s shooting rampage against her four daughters, before taking her own life has died, six days after the violent onslaught at a Wyoming home.
Olivia Blackmer was shot in the head by her mother Tranyelle Harshman, 32, at the family home in Byron, Wyoming on February 10, in a murder-suicide ‘incident’ that also left her older sister Brailey, 9, and 2-year-old twin step-sisters Brooke and Jordan dead.
Paramedics flew the surviving sibling to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City where her family initially said she was ‘fighting for her life.’
7 year old sole surviving sibling passes away 6 days after Wyoming mom shooting her 4 daughters
‘They have her heavily sedated. Essentially, the bullet went through from one side of her head to the other,’ her uncle Korbin Goulding told KSL/KULR.
Olivia’s stepmom Katelynn Beatty said the family was ‘in a terrible situation,’ as doctors monitored the swelling in the 7 year old girl’s brain.
‘They are trying to put their best foot forward in a terrible situation. They are just devastated and just are asking for prayers and love for this little girl,’ Beatty told the outlet.
Come Saturday, Olivia’s family shared that the 7 year old girl had passed away, six days after her mom shooting her and her 3 sibling sisters and then self dead.
She died Saturday afternoon, her stepmother Katelynn Blackmer wrote in a Sunday post to a GoFundMe page dedicated to the girl.
‘Olivia is with her sisters now,’ stated the update. ‘She fought so hard up til the last minute! Her body and her brain had been through too much.’
Coping with extreme mental health crises
Harshman — who was struggling with her mental health and suffering from postpartum depression, and PTSD, according to her husband — called a 911 dispatcher to tell them where they would find her children’s bodies before turning the murder weapon upon herself.
Read the GoFundme in the days before Olivia passing away: ‘Olivia has suffered severe traumatic brain injury and is fighting hard for her life! She is in critical condition; the next few days will be crucial for her outcome,’ she wrote in the fundraiser’s description.
Come Sunday night the fundraiser had raised more than $107,000 for Olivia’s treatment.
A second GoFundMe set up to help Cliff Harshman, Olivia’s stepfather, and husband to Tranyelle, has raised over than $128,000.
Olivia and her murdered sister Brailey were incredibly close, a family friend told KSL-TV.
The siblings split their lives between Byron, Wyoming, where they stayed with their mother and stepfather — and Utah, where they stayed with their father and stepmother.
‘They were just giggly and cute, and they always held hands,’ a family friend, Denise Beatty said.
Beatty prior to Olivia’s passing said the family was leaning on their faith as they continued to pray for the 7 year old girl.
‘Brailey is her little angel up in heaven looking over Olivia, and she’s watching over her while she’s fighting for her life,’ Beatty told KSL-TV.
