ROSWELL, Ga. — A teen who first gained national attention two years ago after undergoing a controversial heart transplant has died following a carjacking and high-speed police chase, according to reports.
WSBTV in Atlanta reports Anthony Stokes, 17, struck a pedestrian and then crashed a stolen car while trying to flee police. He had also shot an elderly woman during an attempted burglary, police said.
The pedestrian who was struck, Clementina Hernandez, 33, of Roswell, Ga., was listed stable and in good condition.
Stokes died from his injuries, according to WSBTV.
The teen made national headlines in 2013 after he was initially declined a heart transplant due to a history of “non-compliance.”
“They said they don’t have any evidence that he would take his medicine or that he would go to his follow-ups,” Melencia Hamilton, Anthony’s mother, told WSBTV in 2013.
The family’s plea to media outlets led to the hospital quickly overturning its decision, however, and Stokes was put on the list.
Stokes said in 2013 that getting the heart transplant he desperately needed would help him straighten out his life, “[so] I can live a second chance. Get a second chance and do things I want to do,” Stokes said.
But on Tuesday Stokes’ second chance ended. During the police chase he crashed the stolen car into a pole, nearly splitting it in half, according to reports. First responders had to cut him out of the car before rushing him to the hospital where he died.
Source: WGNTV