A Mendocino County teenager who suffered critical injuries in the Redwood Valley Fire earlier this month has died.
Family members on Sunday announced the death of Kressa Shepherd, 17, whose family was overtaken early Oct. 9 as they tried to escape the rapidly moving blaze north of Ukiah.
Kressa Shepherd's brother, Kai, 14, died in the fire. Her parents, Jon and Sara Shepherd, suffered extensive burns and are being treated in hospitals in San Francisco and Sacramento, respectively.
The Shepherd children's aunt, Mindi Ramos of Ukiah, told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that she was told Kressa didn't register pain Sunday during a change of the dressings on her burns. Doctors at Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento conducted tests, Ramos said, and determined she was brain-dead.
“They turned off the ventilator and let her go,” Ramos said.