The mother of an off-duty Las Vegas police officer who was gunned down during the music festival massacre earlier this month died just two days after his funeral.
Sheryl Stiles, 55, known to her loved ones as Sissy, was riding an escalator at the South Point Casino when she collapsed and suffered brain damage.
Stiles was among a large group of family members who had traveled from their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, to Las Vegas to attend the memorial service for her son, Metropolitan Police officer Charleston Hartfied.
Sheryl Stiles (left), the mother of slain Las Vegas police officer Charleston Hartfield (right), died two days after his funeral. Family say she had a heart attack and suffered brain injuries
Stiles had traveled to Las Vegas to attend her son’s memorial service on Friday (pictured)
Some 2,000 attended the funeral, including many family members from Kentucky
The 34-year-old Hartfield, a US Army veteran and married father-of-two, was among 58 people who were killed when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on the Route 92 Harvest Festival across the street from the Mandalay Bay Hotel on October 1.
Last Friday, some 2,000 mourners attended his funeral at Central Christian Church in Henderson after a motorcade down the Las Vegas Strip. His mother was in the audience, along with Hartfield’s widow, Veronica, and their two children, 15-year-old son Ayzayah and nine-year-old daughter Savannah.
Sheryl Stiles’ brother, Lewis Stiles, told Fox 5 he believes she was on her way to her hotel room after the memorial when she suffered a heart attack on the escalator and hit her head.
Hartfield’s widow, Veronica, and their two kids, 15-year-old son Ayzayah and nine-year-old daughter Savannah (pictured in front row), said goodbye to the officers Friday
Relatives say Stiles had expressed a desire to be with her deceased son after the funeral
The woman was first taken to St Dominican Hospital, then transferred to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where on Sunday members of her family made the decision to take her off life support, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Stiles fell on an escalator and hit her head just hours after her son’s memorial service
The Clark County Coroner confirmed that Stiles died two days after suffering from pulmonary arrest and acute cardio infarction.
Her family, however, believe she died from a broken heart after losing her son.
‘I talked to the chaplain of Metro [Police],’ her cousin Cecil Ralston said. ‘He told me she kept saying, “Oh I want to stay, I want to be with Charleston,” that she wanted to die.’
A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help cover expenses associated with cremating Stiles’ body and then sending her ashes to Kentucky, where most of her relatives live.
As of Wednesday afternoon, more than $2,400 has been raised, easily surpassing the initial $1,000 goal.