Jessica McLaughlin passed away after being taken off life support on Wednesday
A young 7-Eleven employee has sadly passed away after a store manager allegedly ‘sat on her’ during a violent incident at work.
Jessica McLaughlin, who was just 24 years old, showed up for her shift at a 7-Eleven store in California on June 24, expecting a normal day. But things quickly turned tragic when she was allegedly assaulted by a female manager.
According to her family, the manager grabbed Jessica by the hair and then forced her body down, sitting on top of her using her full weight.
“She held her down, sat on top of her, and didn’t let her breathe,” Sean McLaughlin, Jessica’s brother, wrote on a GoFundMe page that was created to support the family during this tragedy.
He went on to describe the terrifying scene: “While some coworkers tried to help and stop it, they were attacked too. When she finally got free, she collapsed. She wasn’t breathing.”
Sean also said that while some of Jessica’s coworkers were desperately performing CPR, the same manager ran to the back of the store in an attempt to erase the surveillance footage. The family believes she then escaped the scene on a bicycle.
Jessica sadly passed away on Wednesday, July 2, after doctors removed her from life support.
Sean shared a heartbreaking message: “She has been kept alive on machines for the past couple of days. For all of these days, her mom Jasmine, her dad Clancey, our brother Anthony, step dad Albert, faithful boyfriend Adrian, sister Linda and I — along with so many friends and family — stayed by her side, hoping, praying for some kind of miracle.”
“But the damage from the lack of oxygen was too much. Her brain had stopped functioning. After getting second opinions and doing everything we could, we have to make the impossible decision to let her go.”
The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed they responded to a call at the 7-Eleven store in Hollywood, where they found Jessica lying unconscious on the shop floor.
“Preliminary information indicated that two women became involved in a verbal dispute inside the business that escalated into a physical confrontation,” the LAPD stated in an official release.
“Investigators have obtained video evidence of the incident but are not releasing it at this time.”
According to CBS News, law enforcement has now opened a homicide investigation following Jessica’s death earlier this week.
In a statement given to UNILAD, 7-Eleven addressed the incident, saying: “Our hearts are with those impacted during this difficult time. The suspect has been terminated, and we continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement in their investigation.”