The father of the seven-year-old girl, who tragically died from a gunshot wound inflicted by her mother in a murder-suicide, has spoken out following her passing.
Olivia Blackmer passed away on Saturday afternoon (February 15), five days after being rushed to the hospital with a gunshot wound to her head, caused by her mother, Tranyelle Harshman.
After making a 911 call, Harshman, 32, shot Olivia and her sisters before turning the gun on herself. She later succumbed to her injuries in the hospital.
Olivia’s 9-year-old sister, Brailey, along with her two-year-old stepsisters, Brooke and Jordan, tragically died on February 10 at the crime scene in Wyoming.
Olivia, though critically injured, was initially taken to a local hospital and then airlifted to a specialized facility for further care. Her father, Quinn Blackmer, confirmed her death and shared an emotional message on Facebook, expressing his heartbreak after losing his young daughter (via PEOPLE).
He wrote: “The amount of devastation we feel and are going through is so much. Please give all families involved our time and space during this extremely difficult time in our life.
“Funeral arrangements and updates to what we think the world needs to know will be on my Facebook but will also be on the GoFundMe.
“Speaking of that, from the bottom of our hearts we want to thank every single person that has donated and prayed and fasted for us and our family and our beautiful Olivia.
“Your kindness and generosity has been so much and we just ask that you continue to pray and keep us all in your thoughts.
“The peace I find is knowing that my babies don’t have to be apart from each other and they can also be with their other sisters.”
The father had previously told KTVQ that he was “furious” with Harshman, adding (via PEOPLE): “I’m trying my hardest to bury that for a while and to focus on the now, because that anger isn’t going to bring my child back.”
Olivia’s stepmother, Katelynn Blackmer, also shared the heartbreaking news through a GoFundMe page set up to cover Olivia’s medical expenses, as well as the kids’ funeral arrangements.
“Olivia is now with her sisters. She gained her angel wings yesterday at 3:44 pm. She fought so hard up until the very end! Her body and her brain had been through so much. Medication helped, but we reached a point where all medical options were exhausted, and her body only continued to deteriorate,” she wrote.
“She kept fighting through it all, though, until her heart stopped. We are grateful that she held on as long as she did so we could have some precious time with our sweet baby girl during the last five days. We want to thank each and every one of you for your prayers and support for our family.
“We are in an incredibly difficult place after the tragic passing of both of our daughters. We took some time as a family to grieve and be present in the moment before sharing this news, but we wanted to let you all know as we are deeply thankful for everything you’ve done.”
If you have experienced a loss and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact The Compassionate Friends at (877) 969-0010.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.
You can also call 1-800-985-5990 or text “TalkWithUs” to 66746 at the SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline.
