Teresa clutched her mother's hand during her abortion by Joe W. McDaniel on December 3, 1988. Her mother later said that 17-year-old Teresa's last words were, "Oh, mama, mama, it hurts so much!"
Teresa had two perfortions of her uterus and two lacerated veins. She died of massive hemorrhage the day of her abortion.
An investigation found that McDaniel had been operating in an unlicensed facility, and that he had broken the law requiring abortions after 13 weeks be done in a hospital; Teresa had been 15 weeks pregnant.
No charges were pressed against McDaniel for Teresa's death, the illegal abortion, or the unlicensed facility.