Mother Wants Son's Shooters Charged With Murder After His Death
DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - On Tuesday, 25 year old Ryan Lusk suddenly died in the hospital bed he'd been in for six months.
His mother Paula Montoya says, "Even though he was paralyzed, he never stopped fighting. He never gave up on life."
Ever since Lusk was shot during a robbery while leaving the St. Patrick's Day festivities last year, Montoya says her son has been paralyzed from the waist down, and battled infections and complications. "I had called him the night before and talked to him and told him how much I loved him, and I told him that he was my hero," she said. "He told me he loved me too, and that everything was going to be fine."
Instead, she is devastated as she looks through old pictures.
Prosecutors say her son was shot as part of a crime spree that night.
The same two suspects charged in the shooting are also accused of kidnapping a woman at gunpoint earlier that evening and trying to force her to withdraw money from an ATM.
One suspect pleaded guilty to robbery and kidnapping and is serving 45 years in prison.
The other suspect faces an open plea hearing next month.
As for the Lusk case, the Dallas County DA's office isn't commenting on whether prosecutors will now file murder charges against them.
Montoya says, "I believe they should be charged with murder."
She says her son's medical bills approached nearly $2 million.
While Montoya says her insurance covered many of the bills, her out of pocket expenses are still climbing.
Making matters worse, she says she just discovered her son's burial isn't covered by insurance. "The last thing I'd ever have to worry about is how I'm going to afford to bury my son at 25."
Montoya is asking for the public's help in paying for Lusk's burial.
She has set-up a special account at Chase Bank to accept donations.
Donors can go to any Chase Bank location and provide two numbers: The routing number: 111000614 and the account number: 3060167979
Follow Jack Fink on Twitter: @cbs11jack
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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