A UNIVERSITY of Wyoming student, who was savagely beaten in an apparent hate crime because he was gay, died early yesterday, a Colorado hospital said.
Mr Rulon Stacey, chief executive officer of the Poudre Valley Health System, told reporters that Matthew Shepard (21), died at 5 a.m. (Irish time). His family was at his bedside.
Mr Shepard had been breathing with the aid of a ventilator since he was found last Wednesday. He had been beaten and left to die, tied to a wooden fence for 18 hours, just outside Laramie, Wyoming, a small college town. He suffered a severe skull fracture and was burned in the attack. Mr Shepard was found by a passing motorist who at first thought the figure on the fence post was a scarecrow. He died of his injuries rather than being removed from life support by his parents, Mr Stacey said.
"They did not have to come to a point in the process where they were forced to make a decision. Life support remained with Matthew throughout the process," Mr Stacey said.
His parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard, flew to Colorado from Saudi Arabia where Mr Shepard works in the oil industry. Mr Stacey said the parents were overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for their son.
Two men are in custody for the attack and their girlfriends, who allegedly provided them an alibi and helped hide bloody clothes, have been charged as accessories after the fact.