A 7-year-old Wyoming girl who had been fighting for her life after her three sisters were killed in a murder-suicide last Monday died Saturday afternoon, her family has confirmed.
Olivia Blackmer, 7, held on for six days after she and her sisters were shot in their home in Byron, Wyoming, on Feb. 10.
Their mother, Tranyelle Harshman, 32, called 911 to tell law enforcement where they could find the little girls, then she turned the gun on herself in what has been described as a severe mental health break after months of battling depression and other conditions with unsuccessful treatments.
Olivia’s three sisters died on scene: Brailey, 9; Brooke, who was almost 3, and Jordan, 2.
Harshman died Tuesday in a hospital in Billings, Montana.
Olivia was rushed to care and pulled through a brain surgery, then weathered days of brain swelling amid heavy sedation, her father Quinn Blackmer told Cowboy State Daily in past interviews.
She died Saturday afternoon, her stepmother Katelynn Blackmer wrote in a Sunday post to a GoFundMe page dedicated to the girl.
“Olivia is with her sisters now,” says the update. “She fought so hard up til the last minute! Her body and her brain had been through too much.”
Medication helped but the family reached a point where medical options were exhausted and her body just kept getting worse. She fought until her heart stopped, the update says.
“We are grateful she hung on as long as she did so we could get some valuable time with our sweet baby girl the last five days,” Katelynn Blackmer wrote. “We want to thank each and every one of you for your prayers an support for our family.”
The family is in a “rough spot” grieving the girls, the update says. “We took time as a family to grieve and be in the moment before letting the world know but wanted to let you all know as we are thankful for all you have done.”
Katelynn concluded by asking people to keep the family in their prayers, “as we figure out how to grieve this horrific tragedy day to day.”
How Hard She Fought
Quinn Blackmer published a Facebook post Thursday evening when her situation was rough, urging anyone with “a pulse” to plead with God to help Olivia keep fighting.
“This is not an ask this is a demand,” he wrote at the time. “We are running out of medical choices for her and we truly need a miracle. Her brain is continuing to swell and then react positively to the medication but this is not long term.”
Professionals could no longer consider surgery to remove a portion of her skull as an option because there was too much pressure and it “would be catastrophic,” Quinn Blackmer wrote at the time.
Wyoming Prayed For Olivia
Wyoming answered the call to pray: three women, then other people who came forward, organized candlelight vigils in more than a dozen communities across Wyoming on Friday evening, to pray for Olivia’s recovery.
The call to pray went global.
An evangelical teacher in Uganda organized a prayer service for Olivia last week. The videos of that service feature dozens of children praying for Olivia, sending messages of love and singing to Jesus.
Olivia’s stepfather, Cliff Harshman, was Tranyelle Harshman’s husband at the time of the tragedy and had been raising Brailey and Olivia from the ages of 4 and 2. Quinn Blackmer had them several weeks out of the year as part of their custody arrangement.
Brooke and Jordan were Cliff Harshman’s biological daughters.
Cliff Harshman’s coworker built a GoFundMe campaign to take financial pressures off him during this tragedy. Another GoFundMe account surfaced last week to support Olivia’s medical expenses.
Casper’s Albert Hall writes a message for Olivia on one of the paper’s provided. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
Olivia Blackmer, 7, continues to cling to life in a Salt Lake City hospital recovering from brain surgery. She was the lone survivor of a murder-suicide that claimed the lives of her three sisters and mother on Feb. 10, 2025, in Byron, Wyoming. (Courtesy Quinn Blackmer) 
A Byron, Wyoming, mother shot her four daughters, called 911 to report it, then shot herself in the head Monday, the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office reported Tuesday. Three children are dead, while the condition of the fourth and mother are unknown. (Via Tranyelle Harshman's Facebook)
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
