The bullet that paralyzed Julie Ann Morgan was fired more than four years ago.

It killed her Monday.

The Medford woman -- who became a quadriplegic after being shot three times by a friend's estranged husband -- died of an infection at Providence Medford Medical Center.

"She went through a lot in the past four years," said Annette Medlin, her sister. "Then, poof, she was gone."

It was Morgan's 48th birthday and she was surrounded by her grown children.

"It's a sad, sad case," said Medford police Lt. Tim George. "Julie Morgan certainly suffered greatly."

The shooting occurred on Aug. 26, 1995 at 373 S. Columbus Ave. in Medford.

Morgan, who managed a laundry service on Crater Lake Avenue, was trying to help her friend and employee, Bobbi Jo Landeros, escape from an abusive marriage.

Reuben Landeros, the estranged husband, came to the house and shot both of them several times, killing Bobbi Jo. He was later arrested in Walla Walla, Wash., and eventually hanged himself in jail.

For the past four years, Julie Morgan lived a life of hope and despair.

Morgan, who reverted to her maiden name from Butterfield before the shooting, spent more than 12 weeks in the intensive-care units in Medford.

After she was released in December 1995, Morgan hoped to own her own business -- even though she was paralyzed from the neck down, could only breathe with a ventilator and required constant care.

"If the ventilator popped off, somebody had to be there to put it back on," said Cathy Gilbert, a sister who lives in Manteca, Calif.

Morgan went to live in her home on Windemere Drive in Medford; with federal aid, her home was equipped to handle her needs.

She tried to attend college, but, like many quadriplegics, she developed pneumonia and had to shelve those plans.

As the months passed, her medical problems grew; she suffered bed sores, diabetes and Cushings syndrome, a hypersecretion of the adrenal glands.

Morgan wanted the doctors to do something, anything, to give her back her mobility.

"It was so hard for her being so independent and then becoming so dependant on someone else to do everything from wiping her nose to drying her eyes," said Medlin, who lives in Campbell, Calif.

There were also emotional problems.

Julie Morgan gained nearly 100 pounds because of the medical complications. After the shooting, she had taken pride in taking her family out to dinner when they visited, but she grew reluctant to leave her home.

"When she gained the weight," Medlin said. "she didn't want anybody to see her."

But there were good times in the past four years.

Last year, Julie attended the wedding and reception of her son Jason. At first, she was by the wall with her ventilator plugged in.

"She came out on the dance floor and she was out there just doing circles and dancing," Annette said.

Two months ago, she became a grandmother when Jason's wife, Stacey, gave birth to a boy, Hunter Allen.

Morgan was looking forward to trying to go back to college and getting a voice-activated computer that would allow her to get on the Internet.

This Saturday, Ruth Morgan, Julie's mother, and Annette Medlin drove from California to visit with Julie for an early birthday celebration.

They bought her a mocha almond fudge cake and gave her perfume and a floppy hat to wear in the sun.

"She looked great," Medlin said. "I even asked her, `Are you losing weight?"'

The mother and sister left and Julie was going to have another celebration with her children on Monday night, on her actual birthday.

But Monday afternoon, Julie Morgan woke from her nap disoriented and with a 105-degree temperature. She was rushed to the hospital and it was determined that she had sepsis, a type of an infection.

She died within hours, in the arms of her sons.

The family -- many from California -- gathered in Medford on Wednesday. They wanted to thank all of the people who helped their mother, daughter and sister over the years.