Two bullets put Sandeep Patel in a wheelchair for the final years of his life, and drops of water from the Ganges River in his homeland of India carried his soul to heaven.
Patel's family observed the Hindu custom Saturday, when Patel, the only survivor of a racially motivated shooting spree in 2000, died from complications of pneumonia at UPMC Passavant, McCandless. He was 32.
Dr. Mohan Chabra, a cardiologist and friend of the family, said Patel asked for the water before he died and passed away while sitting in the lap of his sister Sangita.
"He died a very peaceful death. He didn't suffer at the end. The way he died was so peaceful," Chabra said.
Sandeep Patel, a native of India, was paralyzed from the neck down after he was shot in the neck and upper back by Richard Baumhammers, a former lawyer, on April 28, 2000. He was shot at his sister Leena Patel's grocery store in Scott, where a customer, Anil Thukar, 31, of Bihar, India, was killed.
Within two hours, Baumhammers killed Anita Gordon, 63, his next-door neighbor in Mt. Lebanon; Ji-Ye Sun, 34, of Churchill, and Thao Pham, 27, at the Ya Fei Chinese Cuisine Restaurant in Robinson; and Garry Lee, 22, of Aliquippa, Beaver County, a customer at C.S. Kim Karate in Center, Beaver County. Baumhammers is white. All of his victims were minorities.
Baumhammers was convicted in 2001 of five counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted murder. He was sentenced to death and remains on death row.
Sandeep Patel had been living at the Kane Regional Center in Ross for the past five years, said his sister, Leena Patel. She won't speak the name of the man who paralyzed her brother and is angry that he remains alive.
"After killing this many people, we are all paying for his meals, and that's a shame," said Leena Patel, 35, of McCandless. "He shouldn't be getting all of this on our money."
Leena Patel said her brother suffered after the shooting and was left with the unanswered question of "Why?"
"He was a struggler," she said. "He wasn't a person who gave up easily. He was quite a strong guy.
"He was a pretty handsome guy. He was hardworking and very family-oriented. He used to take care of everybody in the family," she said.
Chabra, a cardiologist living in Franklin Park, came to know Sandeep Patel and his family after the shootings, and headed fundraising efforts. He said Sandeep was articulate, intelligent and charming.
Praised for speaking out against intolerance, Sandeep Patel was given the city's first Voice of Tolerance Award in 2002.
"He believed in God and he believed in humanity," Chabra said. "He forgave Richard Baumhammers. He had pardoned Richard Baumhammers in his mind."
Although dependent on others, something that worried him, Sandeep Patel remained cheerful, taking life one day at a time, Chabra said.
"He enjoyed every aspect of his life. I saw him everywhere. I saw him at the temple and at movie theaters. He watched the Steelers. He enjoyed his life," he said.
"He told his parents, 'Do not get upset or cry after I leave. I want you to live happy. You cared for me so much. I don't want to see you suffer any more.' "
Survivors include his parents, Manubhai and Urmila Patel; and siblings Bharti, Sangita, Rakesh and Leena Patel.
Visitation will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday at Beinhauer, 2630 W. Liberty Ave., Dormont. Services will be at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. The family asks that memorials be in the form of contributions to Hindu Jain Temple, 615 Illini Drive, Monroeville, PA 15146.
