Delayed deaths: 2 men in San Jose, Oakland die years after injuries

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Two people died years after they were injured, authorities announced this week, including a man in San Jose who was hit by a car in 2019 and a person in Oakland who was shot in 2016 – back when Brexit was occurring and Barack Obama was president.

San Jose man hit by car in 2019

In the first case, San Jose police said that a man died Tuesday, six years after being struck by the driver of a Dodge SUV.

The man was struck on Sept. 18, 2019 at about 8:40 p.m. at Lucretia Avenue and Summerside Drive in San Jose. 

Police said he had been walking outside the crosswalk with a woman, when the driver of a white Dodge SUV hit him.

He was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, but police said he was later stabilized.

The Santa Clara County Office of the Medical Examiner told police the cause of his death was that accident.

KTVU reached out to the medical examiner on Thursday to identify the man and find out more about the circumstances of his death but did not immediately hear back.

Oakland man shot in 2016

Meanwhile, the Oakland Police Department reported that a man who was shot on Dec, 22, 2016, in the 10400 block of Edes Avenue died, also on Tuesday. 

The Alameda County Coroner identified him as Aaron Latonte Brown, 36, of Oakland. 

Delayed deaths

WASHINGTON - Sarah Brady laughs at a remark by her husband Jim Brady as they marked the 30-year-anniversary since Brady was shot by visiting Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on March 30, 2011. Brady was President Ronald Reagan's press secretary who was

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Delayed deaths are uncommon but they do occur.

Sometimes they occur from a complication stemming from the original injury, like an infection, organ failure or an underlying condition. 

The most well-known case of a delayed death from gunshot wounds is what happened to James Brady, the White House press secretary hit by a bullet in the 1981 attempt on President Ronald Reagan’s life. 

The shooting left Brady partially paralyzed, and he needed continuous home nursing care before he died in 2014.

According to the Mercury News, 48-year-old Octavio Medina died in 2011, six years after he was kicked, punched and knocked into a wall outside a San Jose bar six years prior. 

Medina never regained consciousness after he was attacked Feb. 28, 2005, outside La Palma bar in the 200 block of Keyes Street. For nearly six years, he remained under hospice care.

And in an even more unusual case, 82-year-old Lowell Noble died Jan. 7, 2011, following a savage beating that had occurred on May 15, 1999, the Mercury News reported.

The medical examiner ruled Noble’s death a homicide. His death certificate said his swallowing problem, or "aspiration pneumonia due to dysphagia" stemmed from the trauma he sustained in 1999 and was the most significant factor leading to his death.

Unlike Medina, who lay unconscious for nearly six years, Noble functioned after his attack, though his daughters told the Mercury News he was never the same. 

The Mercury News reported that the Santa Clara County District Attorney decided not to amend charges in either of those deaths.