California woman dies after brutal beating outside nightclub

SANTA ANA, Calif., Jan. 22 (UPI) —

Kim Pham, a 23-year-old woman beaten into a coma outside a Santa Ana, Calif., night club, died after being taken off life support, her family said.

Pham was declared brain dead but was being kept alive on a ventilator until her organs could be donated, a decision her family didn’t know she made until she was fatally injured, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Pham was waiting outside The Crosby with friends shortly after midnight Saturday when an argument began with another group. One of Pham’s friends said the confrontation may have been unintentionally triggered by Pham when she accidentally walked in front of a camera as the other group posed for a photograph.

Santa Ana police said a woman, a Santa Monica resident in her 20s, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily harm.

Police were searching for two men and two women still at large, described as Latinos 20 to 25 years of age.