ER actress Vanessa Marquez was shot to death in her home by South Pasadena police. The Hollywood Reporter has learned that officers were responding to a medical emergency dialled from her residence. The tragic incident took place at 1:48pm in the Los Angeles County municipality. When officers arrived on the scene Marquez was relapsing into seizures, additional medical help was then urgently requested. Police and a clinician spoke to her for about 90 minutes before things took a turn for the worst. Suddenly out of nowhere, Marquez reached for a firearm but officers were quicker to the draw. It was later learned that Marquez' loaded weapon was merely a BB gun.
Vanessa Marquez was fondly remembered for her portrayal of nurse Wendy Goldman on the first three seasons of NBC's iconic medical drama ER. In October of 2017, Marquez posted a series of Tweets alleging that George Clooney, the big star on ER, was responsible for getting her blacklisted from the entertainment industry. Clooney responded to those allegations in bewilderment, with a statement of his own: "I take her at her word. I was not a writer or a producer or a director on that show. I had nothing to do with casting. I was an actor and only an actor. If she was told I was involved in any decision about her career then she was lied to. The fact that I couldn’t affect her career is only surpassed by the fact that I wouldn’t."
Vanessa Marquez was 49 at the time of her death.