Susan Gehrke had already survived two battles with cancer and spent a lifetime working toward the peaceful retirement she believed was finally within reach.

She was preparing to step away from work, celebrate her 62nd birthday and devote more of her time to the children and grandchildren she loved. Instead, her family says that future was taken from her during a sudden act of violence outside her Arizona apartment.

Gehrke died on July 29, five days after a stranger allegedly approached her and another person as they sat on the patio of her Tucson apartment complex.

The 61-year-old grandmother was reportedly struck once in the face with such force that she lost consciousness, fell backward and hit her head. She was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries but never recovered.

Her family announced her death with a message of overwhelming grief, describing her as a loving woman who had spent her life caring for others.

Their loss was made even more painful by the timing. Gehrke was only days away from turning 62 and had been looking forward to a retirement she had worked for throughout her life.

A Quiet Night Turns Violent

The attack occurred on the night of July 24.

Gehrke and another individual were sitting outside at the apartment complex when a 27-year-old man allegedly approached them.

Authorities identified the suspect as Dahseir Edward Jefferson.

According to reports citing the Tucson Police Department, Jefferson allegedly punched Gehrke in the face with tremendous force. Part of her dentures was knocked from her mouth before she fell and struck her head against the ground.

What began as an ordinary evening quickly became a medical emergency.

First responders transported Gehrke to a nearby hospital, where doctors treated her for devastating injuries, including bleeding in her brain.

Her family later said the physical damage was so severe that she appeared unrecognizable.

For several days, relatives waited as she remained under medical care. But on July 29, Gehrke died from her injuries.

The single alleged blow had ended the life of a woman who had survived years of hardship and was preparing to begin one of her happiest chapters.

A Family’s Future Suddenly Erased

Gehrke’s relatives remembered her as far more than the victim of a violent attack.

She was a mother, grandmother and cancer survivor whose identity had been shaped by perseverance, generosity and dedication to her family.

Relatives said she had defeated cancer twice. After enduring those serious health battles, she continued working and putting the needs of other people ahead of her own.

Retirement represented a long-awaited reward.

Gehrke imagined having the freedom to relax after years of labor. She hoped to spend unhurried days with her children and grandchildren, enjoying the ordinary family moments that work and illness may once have limited.

Her family said she was excited about the quieter life ahead of her.

That anticipation now makes her death especially difficult to accept. She did not die after a long decline or another fight with cancer. She was allegedly attacked without warning outside the place where she lived.

In an online fundraiser, her relatives described her as a source of warmth and hope for everyone around her. They said their hearts had been completely shattered by the loss.

The family’s words focused not only on the woman they had lost, but also on the years that had been stolen from them.

There would be no retirement celebrations, no peaceful afternoons with her grandchildren and no opportunity for Gehrke to enjoy the life she had spent decades building.

Arrest Comes Four Days After Attack

Jefferson was arrested on July 28, four days after the confrontation and one day before Gehrke died.

He was initially charged with two counts of aggravated assault, reflecting the allegation that two people were targeted during the encounter.

After Gehrke’s death, prosecutors amended one of those charges to second-degree murder.

Jefferson was being held at the Pima County Adult Detention Complex on a $650,000 bond.

The upgraded charge marked the legal shift from an assault investigation to a homicide case.

Gehrke’s death also changed the consequences of an encounter that reportedly lasted only moments. A brief confrontation outside an apartment complex had now left one woman dead, a family in mourning and a suspect facing a murder allegation.

The case will move through the court system, but the legal process cannot restore what Gehrke’s relatives lost.

For them, the central reality is painfully simple: a woman who survived cancer twice and reached the edge of retirement is gone because of an alleged act of seemingly senseless violence.

Remembered for Strength, Not the Attack

Gehrke’s story contains a cruel contrast.

She had faced cancer on two separate occasions and survived both times. Those victories allowed her family to imagine that the worst was behind them and that she would have years left to enjoy the people she loved.

She continued working through life’s challenges, apparently determined to reach the moment when she could finally slow down.

That moment was almost there.

Her birthday was approaching. Retirement was close. The daily responsibilities that had defined much of her life were about to give way to rest, family and greater freedom.

Instead, her loved ones were forced to organize a fundraiser while grieving her death.

The campaign was created to help the family manage the consequences of the tragedy and honor a woman they described as someone who consistently placed others before herself.

Their tribute presented Gehrke as resilient but tenderhearted—a person who had endured serious illness without losing her devotion to those around her.

Although the circumstances of her death drew public attention, her family did not want the violence of her final days to become the only thing people remembered.

They emphasized the full life that came before it: her hard work, her survival, her love for her family and the excitement she felt about the future.

A Milestone She Never Reached

Gehrke should have been preparing for a birthday and a new beginning.

Instead, her children and grandchildren are confronting a future without her.

The retirement she had earned will never arrive. The peaceful years she planned to spend with family have been replaced by grief and a criminal case that will continue long after her funeral.

Yet the family’s remembrance makes clear that Gehrke’s life was not defined solely by the attack that killed her.

She was a woman who survived cancer twice. She worked tirelessly, cared deeply for others and remained devoted to her loved ones until the end.

Her death came just as life was supposed to become gentler.

That is the heartbreak her family now carries—not only the loss of Susan Gehrke, but the loss of every birthday, conversation and quiet family moment she had fought so hard to live long enough to enjoy.