Esaw Snipes-Garner, the widow of Eric Garner, has died at 58 years old. Snipes-Garner’s passing is the latest death in a family that has seen significant tragedy over the past 11 years. She is remembered for persevering and for demanding justice after the 2014 police killing of her husband.
Esaw Snipes-Garner remembered for resilience after Eric Garner’s death
Esaw Snipes-Garner died at age 58 after dealing with an illness, according to a statement made by Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. Dominique Sharpton, who serves as NAN’s national director of membership and producer of special events, said of Snipes-Garner:
“Tragedy can beget tragedy in life, and she weathered more than any single person ever should have to — especially the loss of a child. Yet Esaw found the resolve to keep going, keep fighting, and protect her family. She showed the nation the emotional impact unjust police killings of Black and Brown Americans can have on those left to pick up the pieces.”
Snipes-Garner and her family were thrust into the national spotlight after Eric Garner died in 2014 after being placed in a chokehold by a police officer who was detaining him for allegedly selling loose cigarettes. The outrage and protests surrounding his death and the lack of charges against the responsible officer were among the early galvanizing forces of the Black Lives Matter movement. Garner’s repeated dying declaration, “I can’t breathe,” became a motto and symbol of the movement.
In 2017, Snipes-Garner and other members of the Garner family received a multi-million-dollar settlement from the City of New York for Garner’s death. Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who choked Garner, was finally fired from the NYPD in 2019, over five years after Garner’s death.
Her final years were spent prioritizing peace and family
Despite the continued activism of Snipes-Garner and others, Garner’s death was never formally prosecuted as a crime. The family’s grief was compounded when their daughter, Erica Garner, died of a heart attack in 2017 at only 27 years old.
Despite the heartbreak, Snipes-Garner was able to reflect on happier times. She once told BET about meeting her husband, joking that “he lied and said he was older” than he really was when they first met in the late 1980s. “We talked on the phone for days… we became a couple,” she said of their relationship, which led to marriage in 1989 and raising a total of six children between them.
Snipes-Garner eventually moved to an undisclosed location and out of the spotlight, wanting to create a home for her grandchildren and other family members. “I don’t want to be relevant anymore,” she said in a 2018 interview. “I just want to live my life, raise my grandchildren, and let them see something different than New York City projects and shootings.”
Snipes-Garner lived a life not only marked by tragedy but also defined by power and perseverance. Her work in fighting for justice for her husband impacted the nation and helped frame the battle against police violence and brutality. She was able to live the last years of her life away from media attention, but her legacy—and that of her family—will endure for years to come.
