Authorities in Bucks County said Christine McGhee of Warminster died Sunday. She was 23. Authorities said McGhee was left in a vegetative state after she was dragged while hanging onto the truck after an argument with her boyfriend in a Kutztown University parking lot in December 2008.
Michael Morrone, 24, of Marlton, N.J., was convicted of aggravated and simple assault and related offenses two years ago. He was sentenced to five to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $2.2 million in medical expenses.
Bucks County Coroner Joseph Campbell said an autopsy Monday indicated that McGhee died of a traumatic brain injury. A ruling on the manner of death was delayed pending further tests, but he told the Reading Eagle that "everything points to her succumbing to the injuries that she sustained in 2008."
Berks County District Attorney John Adams said authorities will evaluate the case to see whether a third-degree murder charge is warranted.
McGhee graduated from Bucks County Community College and was pursuing a bachelor's degree in graphic design at Kutztown University at the time of her death, according to an obituary posted on the website of the Scanlin Funeral Home in Chalfont. A family website, CareforChristine.org, said she was involved in soccer for many years and described her as "vivacious, carefree, caring, brave, understanding, big-hearted and determined."
A viewing is scheduled at the Scanlin Funeral Home on Thursday night; a funeral Mass will be held Friday at Nativity of Our Lord Church in Warminster. Burial will be at St. John Neumann Cemetery.
