Jackson County woman dies two years after waking from coma after claiming her brother attacked her

Wanda Palmer (Photo courtesy: Jackson County Sheriff’s Department)

JACKSON COUNTY, WV (WOWK) — A woman who awoke from a two-year coma saying her brother was the one who attacked her has died, her obituary says.

According to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in 2022, Wanda Palmer was attacked, hacked, and left for dead near Cottageville in June 2020. She was hospitalized and in a coma as a result of the incident.

According to a criminal complaint filed for her brother, Daniel Palmer III, authorities received a call on the morning of June 10, 2020, that neighbors found Wanda Palmer “injured and covered in blood” in her trailer. Officers who arrived at the scene said they found her “slumped over on her couch” and said she was seriously injured and unresponsive.

Authorities described Wanda Palmer’s injuries as “having been struck on the head and face with an object that caused lacerations.” She was taken to a hospital for treatment and was unable to tell investigators what happened. The complaint states Wanda Palmer was unresponsive and taken to a nursing home for care.

According to this criminal complaint, she began saying “some isolated words” on June 27, 2022. On July 12, 2022, authorities reached out to speak with her, and she said her brother was the one who attacked her.

Daniel Palmer III was arrested for the assault on July 15, 2022 and taken to the South Central Regional Jail on $500,000 bail.

Less than a week later, on July 20, he was taken to the hospital, according to then-Jackson County Sheriff Ross Mellinger. He said Daniel Palmer III died a day later, on July 21.