DENVER — The family of a woman who committed suicide six months after her daughter was paralyzed in the Columbine shootings has sued a hospital, saying she did not receive adequate treatment for depression.
Carla Hochhalter, 48, shot herself in the head in a pawn shop Oct. 22, after asking the clerk to see a handgun and loading it with her own ammunition. Her daughter, Anne-Marie Hochhalter, had been paralyzed in the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton that claimed the lives of 15 —12 students, one teacher and both teenage gunmen — on April 20, 1999.
Anne Marie, her father and brother are plaintiffs in the suit filed Friday in Denver District Court. It accuses Porter Adventist Hospital and three staff members of negligence and seeks compensatory damages.