UPDATE June 6, 2020: The family of Sarah Grossman released the following statement:

We are devastated by the sudden and tragic loss of our daughter Sarah Grossman.  Due to media speculation regarding her death we felt it necessary to make a brief statement at this time.  Sarah did attend a rally in Columbus on May 28, 2020, where she was exposed to pepper spray.  Autopsy and toxicology reports are not complete and there is no evidence at this time that pepper spray caused her death.

Although all reports are not final, we do know from preliminary toxicology reports that there was no evidence of any accidental or intentional drug overdose as was apparently reported and suspected by an emergency room nurse.  Sarah had no know peanut allergy or asthma as speculated.  Therefore at this time, the cause of her death remains unknown, and we will look to the medical examiner’s findings in determining cause of death.

The Family of Sarah Grossman

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — The City of Columbus is looking into social media reports claiming a young woman died after being sprayed with tear gas during a protest in Columbus.

The woman has been identified on Instagram as 22-year-old Sarah Grossman, a recent Ohio State graduate.

The City of Columbus said on Twitter the Columbus Fire Department does not have a record of an EMT transport to any Columbus-area hospitals.

The City of Columbus replied to their original tweet, adding that the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office is handling her autopsy and the City will look into any possible Columbus connection.

The Montgomery County coroner confirmed they are conducting an autopsy on Grossman. They confirm she died on May 30, 2020 at Sycamore Hospital. The results from the autopsy are expected to take approximately eight weeks.

In a post on Instagram, Jessa Grossman, who identified herself as Sarah’s sister, posted the following:

View this post on Instagram

I know that today is black out Tuesday and in honor of that, i want to talk about my best friend. As some of you know, on 5/30 we lost one of the most kindest, beautiful souls, my sister Sarah. If you had ever met Sarah, you know that she impacted every persons life that she touched. She never cared about what anyone thought of her, only caring about helping others. She had just graduated from OSU with a major in environmental sciences and Spanish. Her plans were to first finish classes in Argentina and then go to the border of Mexico to help the children there, followed by moving to Guatemala to have a sustainable farm. She has been my rock, my biggest inspiration and role model, and most importantly the best friend I have ever had. I promise to carry on her legacy and finish the things she was starting. I will always love you and no day will go by where I don’t think about you with love from your little sister. For those of you asking about donations, my family and I would love for you to donate to one of the organizations she was fighting for the most. These include the Rainforest Alliance (in bio) as well as the Columbus Freedom Fund ( https://columbusfreepress.com/article/give-bail-fundfreedom-fund-arrested- demonstrators) . Thank you all for the love and support. I will never stop fighting. #forsarah

A post shared by jay (@jessagrossman) on

The post’s text has been edited since its original publication

NBC4 reached out to Jessa Grossman and made additional attempts to contact Sarah’s family, but did not hear back by publication time.

Sarah Grossman worked at Stauf’s Coffee Roasters, according to a post by the Columbus-based company.

NBC4 asked the City of Columbus for more information Thursday morning, and have not heard back.

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