Los Gatos Shooter Victim Declared Dead

who had been accused by the Santa Clara County District Attorney of molesting her has been taken off life support and declared dead, according to authorities.

Cecilia Mortensen, 14, is said to have died either Friday or Saturday evening after her mother, who was also shot in the head by Los Gatos resident Jerry Wayne Steele, 60, spent some time with her, said Del Norte County Sheriff's Cmdr. Bill Steven.

The mother was released Thursday from Rogue Valley Memorial Hospital in Medford, OR. and traveled to Crescent City to Sutter Coast Hospital to spend time with her daughter, Steven said. The girl had been kept on life support pending organ donation.

Steele, who shot himself in the head the same afternoon he tried to kill the women, is also said to have had items in the car he had rented after the shooting that suggested he was going to kidnap one or both victims, Steven added.

Inside a white Chevy Aveo he was driving before he shot himself, police found a bag on the floor behind the driver's seat that contained night vision, a stun gun, duck tape, rope and large zip ties, Steven indicated.

Police were led to Steele the same day of the shooting after a rental company employee at the Crescent City Airport contacted them. The informant had spotted a blue Honda Civic that Steele had borrowed from his son in the South Bay and which he had left in the airport parking lot after he rented the white Chevy Aveo, Steven said.

"It's a very tragic thing for a small community," Steven said of the incident and its impact in Crescent City. "Our prayers go out to the family and friends of the victims as well as the suspect's family. It's a hard and difficult thing for a lot of people in both our community and Santa Clara County."

Steele had been charged with child molestation and the women had a restraining order against him and they had traveled to Crescent City to escape him, Steven said.