Quadriplegic, Mother Reportedly Reconciled

A paralyzed woman who won the right to go off life support made peace with her mother, who is accused of shooting her, before she died, the mother’s attorney said Thursday.

Georgette Smith spoke to her mother during a videotaped deposition from her hospital bed Tuesday, one day before Smith was removed from a ventilator at her own request.

“It was very emotional. They were at peace with one another,” the mother’s attorney, Bob Wesley, said Thursday.

Shirley Egan, 68, is charged with attempted murder in her daughter’s shooting, and the charge could be changed to manslaughter or murder now that her daughter is dead.

Wesley said he doesn’t believe a grand jury will indict Egan for murder once they see the deposition.

Egan, who has emphysema and is blind in one eye, is accused of shooting her 42-year-old daughter in March after overhearing her discuss putting her in a nursing home.

The bullet hit Smith’s spinal cord, paralyzing her and leaving her unable to speak without effort and incapable of swallowing or controlling her bladder. In asking a court for permission to be taken off life support, she said she could only wink and wiggle her nose and tongue, and added, “I can’t live like this.”

Smith died Wednesday after a court granted her wish. Egan supported her daughter’s decision, but Wesley fought it to avoid the charge being upgraded to murder.