Grandmother Susan Gehrke, a two-time cancer survivor nearing retirement, died five days after suffering a severe head injury in the attack.

TUCSON, Ariz. — A 61-year-old grandmother who had survived cancer twice died after police say she was punched while checking on her boyfriend during a confrontation at a Tucson apartment complex, turning an aggravated-assault investigation into a second-degree murder case.

Susan Marie Gehrke died July 29 after being hospitalized with life-threatening injuries from the July 24 attack at 1201 N. Alvernon Way, according to Tucson police and local reporting. Dahseir Edward Jefferson, 27, was arrested July 28, initially on suspicion of two counts of aggravated assault. After Gehrke died, authorities added a second-degree murder charge. Police said another man also was seriously injured. Jefferson was being held on a total bond of $650,000 in the latest verified reports reviewed for this story. The allegations against him have not been proven in court.

Police were called to the apartment complex at about 10 p.m. July 24 after receiving a report of a fight. Officers arrived to find an injured man and woman. Investigators later said the two had been at or near an apartment patio when a man approached, became confrontational and assaulted them. A probable cause statement described a sequence in which Jefferson first confronted people near the apartment before the encounter became physical. Gehrke had been visiting her boyfriend at the complex, according to reporting based on the statement and interviews with her family.

According to the probable cause statement cited by Law&Crime, Jefferson had been knocking on a neighboring apartment door when Gehrke came outside and told him the resident was not home. Her grandson, Frankie Zills, told local television station 13 News that Jefferson began yelling at his grandmother. Gehrke’s boyfriend then came outside and briefly argued with Jefferson, according to investigators. Police allege Jefferson struck the boyfriend in the face, causing him to fall backward and hit his head on the sidewalk. The man suffered a cut below one eye, a large head contusion and scrapes and was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Investigators say Gehrke moved toward the injured man after he fell. Jefferson then allegedly punched Gehrke in the face, causing her to fall and strike her head. The impact knocked her unconscious and damaged her dentures, according to investigators. Police said she suffered a brain bleed and required intubation before being transported to a hospital. Later reporting by 13 News, citing an autopsy report, said Gehrke died from blunt-force trauma to the head and that her manner of death was ruled homicide. The autopsy also documented additional injuries, the station reported. Those medical findings established how Gehrke died but do not by themselves determine Jefferson’s criminal guilt, which remains a question for the courts.

Gehrke’s family said the woman they saw in the hospital was difficult to recognize because of the injuries. Her daughter, identified as Felicia in local reporting, said a 15-year-old family member had wanted to visit Gehrke but she decided he should not see her in that condition. Zills described his grandmother as someone who avoided confrontation and said he believed she had simply tried to check on her boyfriend and help him after he went down. The family’s description of what Gehrke intended to do reflects their understanding of her actions; investigators have publicly described the physical sequence but have not announced a motive for the alleged attack.

The death came at a time when Gehrke’s relatives said she was preparing for a major change in her life. She was approaching retirement and would have turned 62 on Aug. 3. In a family fundraising statement, Angelina Zills described Gehrke as someone who had spent her life working and putting relatives before herself. The family also said Gehrke had survived cancer twice. Instead of marking her birthday and planning a retirement celebration, relatives found themselves preparing for her funeral. Those details became central to the family’s public remembrance of Gehrke as they tried to explain what had been lost beyond the basic facts recorded in the homicide investigation.

Police identified Jefferson as a suspect during their initial investigation but did not arrest him at the apartment complex. Tucson officers located him July 28 near Speedway Boulevard and Country Club Road, according to police accounts carried by local news organizations. He was booked into the Pima County jail on two aggravated-assault allegations. At an initial court appearance, prosecutors indicated that one of the victims was not expected to survive, 13 News reported. When police learned that Gehrke had died, the case changed from an investigation involving two seriously injured victims to one that included a homicide. Jefferson subsequently faced second-degree murder in Gehrke’s death while the other assault allegation remained tied to the injured man.

Jefferson had prior Arizona convictions before his arrest in the Gehrke case. Local reporting citing court and corrections records said he was convicted of third-degree burglary in 2019 and aggravated assault in 2021. He received a five-year prison sentence in the assault case and was released in October 2024, according to those reports. 13 News also reported that prison disciplinary findings were recorded during his incarceration. Gehrke’s grandson later criticized the criminal-justice system and questioned why someone with Jefferson’s record had been free. His comments reflected the family’s anger after the killing, not a finding by investigators or a court that Jefferson’s prior release was unlawful or that any official action caused Gehrke’s death.

The homicide investigation also left a second injured person whose experience formed the first part of the alleged attack. Police said Gehrke’s boyfriend was struck before she was hit and sustained serious injuries after falling. Public reports reviewed for this story did not establish a later medical outcome for him. Police have not publicly identified him in the reports reviewed, and no reliable account reviewed for this story established that the two alleged attacks had been planned in advance. The publicly described encounter instead began as a confrontation at the apartment complex and escalated within a short period, according to investigators.

Second-degree murder is an accusation, and Jefferson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The charging decision followed Gehrke’s death and the medical findings concerning the injuries she suffered after the alleged punch and fall. Prosecutors still bear the burden of establishing the elements of the offense in court. Available reporting in early August said Jefferson was scheduled for an arraignment on Aug. 11, but the reliable sources reviewed for this article did not establish a later case disposition. No trial result, plea or sentencing outcome was confirmed in the material reviewed.

For Gehrke’s relatives, the criminal proceedings began only after days spent waiting at the hospital and then coping with her death. Police described a late-night confrontation, two injured people, a four-day search for the suspect and a charge that became more serious when one victim died. Her family described something different but complementary: a grandmother who had survived serious illness twice, worked toward retirement and expected to celebrate another birthday. As the case moves through the justice system, Jefferson remains accused of second-degree murder, and the circumstances surrounding the July 24 encounter remain subject to adjudication in court.

Author note: Last updated September 9, 2026.