In 1999, two student gunmen conducted a mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, killing 13 and wounding around two dozen others before taking their own lives.

The death toll just rose by one to 14 total nearly 26 years later after the death last month of one of those wounded victims, Anne Marie Hochhalter, was linked to her old injuries and classified as a homicide, the Associated Press reported.

Hochhalter, who was shot multiple times and left partially paralyzed in the school shooting, died as a result of a sepsis infection in open sores that stemmed from being wheelchair-bound, all of which can be attributed to the initial gunshot-related injuries she suffered more than 25 years earlier.

Death classified as a homicide

Local Fox affiliate KDVR reported that an autopsy for Hochhalter, who passed away on Feb. 16, was released on Wednesday by the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office and included the conclusion that her death was a homicide.

Per the report, Hochhalter's death was directly linked to "sepsis due to Streptococcus pyogenes" but it was also noted that "Complications of paraplegia due to two remote gunshot wounds are a significant contributing factor."

As such, it was concluded that "The manner of death is best classified as homicide."

Family and friends suspected death was linked to shooting

The determination that Hochhalter's death in 2025 was related to the gunshot wounds she suffered as a high school student more than a quarter of a century ago may come as a surprise to some, but not to her family and friends, who suspected as much when she passed away about a month ago, KDVR noted.

Indeed, The Denver Post reported last month that Sue Townsend, the stepmother of Columbine victim Lauren Townsend who later unofficially adopted the partially paralyzed Hochhalter as her "acquired daughter" after the shooting, suggested the February death was linked to health complications related to her initial injuries decades prior.

"She was fiercely independent. She was a fighter," Townsend said of Hochhalter. "She’d get knocked down -- she struggled a lot with health issues that stemmed from the shooting -- but I’d watch her pull herself back up. She was her best advocate and an advocate for others who weren’t as strong in the disability community."

Mother lost to tragic circumstances

By all accounts, Hochhalter was a generally happy and joyous person who cared deeply for others and loved music and animals, especially the dogs that she fostered and raised.

That positive attitude came despite not just the horrendous injuries she suffered in the 1999 school shooting that left her confined to a wheelchair but also a second tragedy that occurred just six months later when her mother committed suicide.

According to a report at that time, Carla June Hochhalter, 48, who'd reportedly been battling depression as her daughter slowly recovered from her gunshot wounds, walked into a pawn shop, asked to see a revolver, loaded it with ammunition she'd brought with her while the clerk readied paperwork for purchase, and shot herself in the head in the middle of the store.

A bright and shining light

Per the AP, it was shortly after Hochhalter lost her mother that she was befriended and taken in by Townsend, who was still grieving the loss of her stepdaughter Lauren in the shooting but used the opportunity of caring for Hochhalter to help them both deal with the tragic losses.

Townsend told the outlet of her "acquired" daughter Anne Marie, "She brought a light to our lives that will shine for a long time."