Husband of woman hit by rock dies at 55

The brain injuries caused by a rock carelessly thrown from a highway overpass are making it hard for Sharon Budd to grieve the sudden loss of her husband, a relative says. He may have been battling something internal, too: The 55-year-old OH man died at home Saturday night as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot, says the Stark County coroner’s office.

In July 2014, while riding in the passenger seat of her family auto, Sharon Budd suffered permanent injuries to her face and brain when the teenagers threw a 5-pound rock through the windshield.

Budd’s suicide comes just over two years after a gang of four teenagers dropped a 5-pound rock onto his vehicle from an overpass. But the Union County district attorney said Budd was now the second victim of the tragedy from two years ago. Randy Budd said in January. “He died when those kids threw a rock through his windshield”, Peter Johnson told Penn Live.

Through it all, Randy Budd appreciated the way people in central Pennsylvania took him in, his sister said.

Fewer than three hours before he shot himself, Randy Budd texted State Senator Gene Yaw to “Please get the fence issue settled”. Two years after her injury, Budd’s family said she “still needs constant care”, WOIO noted.

Sentences for Keefer McGee, Brett Lahr and Tyler Porter ranged from 11 and a half months to four and a half years. Johnson, who prosecuted the vandals-turned-criminals, did not say if he would pursue additional charges tied to the suicide. “Now it is time that we remain #BUDDstrong for Randy and the family he so dearly loved”.

Randy Budd said in January that his wife had seven major surgeries and lost part of her brain and one of her eyes.

On the night of the rock-throwing incident, the four had reportedly been on a “vandalism spree” that included driving through a cornfield and bashing the windows of an area home with a baseball bat.

Following Randy Budd’s death, a GoFundMe campaign has been started to help pay funeral costs, long-term care for Sharon, and college for their daughter.

“Randy stood vigilently [sic] by the side of his wife not only during her long journey to ‘recovery, ‘ but for the last 33 years of their marriage”.