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Shanna Hogan, best-selling true-crime author, dies at 37 a week after pool accident

Shanna Hogan was in critical condition after nearly drowning on Aug. 27, 2020.
Shanna Hogan was in critical condition after nearly drowning on Aug. 27, 2020.

Best-selling author Shanna Hogan died Sept. 2 at a hospital after a near-drowning incident a week earlier.

"Her light, though, will continue to shine on us all," said Christia Gibbons, Hogan's former teacher and close friend who spoke on behalf of the family, in a Facebook post on Sept. 3. "We are better people for having had her in our lives."

Hogan, who was 37, leaves behind her 15-month-old son Zander, husband Matt LaRussa, and countless family and friends.

The Phoenix Fire Department reported on Aug. 27 that a woman was in critical condition after her husband found her incapacitated in the pool in a residential neighborhood.

Gibbons confirmed with The Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network, that Hogan tripped and fell into the pool, where she nearly drowned. Her husband arrived home minutes later and began performing CPR before Hogan was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Hogan died five days later, and her family made the decision to donate her organs.

"I wanted as much of her in this world as possible, and I can someday meet the recipients," LaRussa said in a quote provided by Gibbons.

'She challenged me to be better, pushed me a lot harder,' former student remembers

Hogan was a New York Times best-selling nonfiction author, an authority on several high-profile crime cases, and a popular journalism instructor at her alma mater, Arizona State University — but loved ones also remembered her as a loving mother, playful friend, and profoundly humble powerhouse.

"This is a person who cared for everyone else and did whatever she could to make their lives better, whether it was companionship, guidance in a personal matter, mentoring," Gibbons told The Republic.

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The two met when Hogan was a 19-year-old student in Gibbons' intermediate reporting class at ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Gibbons said she was immediately struck by Hogan's writing ability and work ethic and, even after the course completed, remained her mentor as Hogan's career took off. Later, they became close friends.

Gibbons remembered how Hogan would have vivid dreams, loved "Harry Potter" so much she designed her son's room around it, gave the best gifts, and was "thinky," a way Hogan referred to her own persistent whirlwind of a mind.

Her closest family and friends will mourn her, Gibbons said, but so will the many other communities she touched as a teacher and writer.

Ethan Millman, a 2019 graduate of the Cronkite school, similarly remembered Hogan as not only inspiring but also goofy and fun, often dressing up as characters for a mock press conference in her introductory reporting class.

"As a professor, she'd really go the extra mile," Millman told The Republic. "She wasn't afraid to do something that was a little more out there, and everyone loved that because it was so organic."

Millman, who is now a staff music reporter for Rolling Stone magazine, said that Hogan deeply impacted his career by seeing him and his peers as a source of inspiration, seeing the potential they as young, aspiring journalists hadn't yet seen in themselves.

Despite success, Hogan remained humble and grateful

Hogan's literary manager, Sharlene Martin, told The Republic that Hogan's humility was remarkable.

Hogan received critical acclaim for her 2013 book "Picture Perfect: The Jodi Arias Story," which recounted the shocking murder case of Travis Alexander, whom Arias was convicted of killing in his Mesa, Arizona, home.

"She was probably one of the most grateful authors I've ever represented," said Martin, who had worked with Hogan since before her first true-crime book published.

Even as Hogan's work gained attention — publishing four books, optioning two of them to become movies, earning the title of Journalist of the Year from the Arizona Press Club in 2010 and again in 2011 from the Arizona Newspaper Association, and appearing on "The View," "Dateline" and "The Dr. Oz Show" — she remained thankful.

"Everything that was done for her, every step forward in her career, she had such gratitude for," Martin said.

Her editor, Charles Spicer, said in an email shared by Martin, "Shanna Hogan was an intrepid journalist, a talented writer, a natural podcast star — and an enthusiastic and loving first time mother. Speaking as her editor, she was a dream to work with, the consummate professional who was also a kind and thoughtful person with a natural warmth and a delightful sense of fun."

A GoFundMe page was started to raise money for Hogan's extensive medical bills and memorial costs and to support Hogan and LaRussa's son, Zander, as he grows up.

Reach the reporter at emily.wilder@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @vv1lder.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Shanna Hogan, best-selling true-crime author, dies after pool accident