Tragic Twist in Case of Rock Tossed From Overpass

Rock severely injured wife of Randy Budd, who committed suicide Saturday
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 8, 2016 10:10 AM CDT
Tragic Twist in Case of Rock Tossed From Overpass
In this Sept. 3, 2015 file photo, Sharon and Randy Budd talk with friends and relatives outside the Union County Court House in Lewisburg, Pa.   (Amanda August/The Daily Item via AP, File)

For the past two years, Randy Budd had fought for two things: the implementation of protective fencing on highway overpasses, and wife Sharon, who was severely injured when a 4.5-pound rock was tossed onto the car she was riding in on July 10, 2014. He may have been battling something internal, too: The 55-year-old Ohio man died at home Saturday night as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot, says the Stark County coroner's office. Sharon was home at the time, and PennLive reports that Budd had sent texts to family members expressing his love. On Facebook last month he voiced anger at the events of the past two years, reports Cleveland19. His post read in part: "On July 11th it will be 2 years since those bastards decided to throw a 5lb rock off an overpass and totally disable my Sharon."

PennLive reports that her daughter said Sharon was unable to even work a TV remote, and in the post Budd explained that after seven weeks at a rehab facility, she still required constant care. "Approved paroles are coming to my house from PA. I guess those young men that took Sharon from us will get to live their lives into the future as normal. The damage they caused is permanent!!!!" The rock thrown by four teens hit the car her daughter was driving on I-80 in Pennsylvania; Sharon, who was in the front seat, suffered a shattered skull and lost an eye. The Canton Repository reports part of her brain's frontal lobes were removed during her surgeries. What the DA who prosecuted the boys had to say: "Randy Budd did not die from a gunshot. He died when those kids threw a rock through his windshield." (More suicide stories.)

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