HOUSTON – Wednesday evening, the family of Ricky Hall showed up at Ben Taub Hospital, their intentions were to give doctors the OK to take the 46-year-old off life support.
“I said my goodbyes to him last night,” said Gail Keith, Hall’s mom.
Hall is the man who was at the center of a deputy-involved shooting inside the hospital on Oct. 6.
He’s accused of taking a medical student hostage by holding a sharp, metal object to her neck. A deputy inside the hospital responded to her screams and wound up shooting Hall.
His family tells KPRC he was shot once in the lung and once in the abdomen and he’s been in the hospital ever since.
“This was his attempt at suicide by cop,” said Hall’s uncle, Ben Hogan.
Hall’s family said he had been suicidal for years and has dealt with mental illness his entire life.
“I know he’s mentally ill,” said Keith. “He’s very, very smart, but mentally ill. I tried his whole life to get help for him.”
Hall’s family learned about the incident by watching the news.
Because Hall was in police custody at the time, he was a ward of the state and his mother said she had a terrible time getting information about him or his condition.
“I saw that he was shot but I didn’t know where he was shot or how he was shot,” Keith said.
For nearly two weeks, Keith said she was unable to get information about her son and was unable to visit him.
On Monday, she was granted access and on Tuesday she said her goodbyes.
Wednesday evening, doctors took Hall off life support. The machines were turned off at 7:35 p.m. and he died three minutes later.
“He’s a criminal, we do not condone or approve of anything he’s done all his life,” Hogan said. “He’s been a very hard family member.”
