A woman who awoke from a coma to tell police her brother attacked her dies 2 years later

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia woman who awakened from a coma and identified her now-late brother as her attacker has died, authorities said.

Jackson County Sheriff Ross Mellinger confirmed the death of Wanda Palmer, 53, of Ravenswood, WCHS-TV reported Tuesday. Palmer died July 12 at WVU Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston, according to her obituary from Casto Funeral Home of Ravenswood.

Palmer was found unconscious with serious head injuries at her home in June 2020 and was in a coma in a nursing home for two years. Her brother, Daniel Palmer, had been identified as a suspect, but investigators did not have enough evidence to file charges, according to court documents.

In June 2022, a deputy received a call from a protective services worker who said Palmer had started to speak single words and seemed to respond when questioned.

Two weeks later, in an interview with a deputy, Palmer said the person who injured her was her brother and she identified him as Daniel, a criminal complaint obtained by WCHS-TV said.

It wasn’t clear if Palmer slipped back into a coma after she ID’d her brother or what the status of her health has been over the past two years. The Associated Press left a telephone message with the sheriff Wednesday seeking information.

At the time, Mellinger said the situation was “about as rare as it gets.”

Daniel Palmer, 55, of Cottageville initially was charged with attempted murder and malicious wounding. He was in poor health at the time of his arrest and was taken from jail to a hospital, where he died less than a week later.