Guitarist Ralph Santolla (Death, Obituary, Deicide, etc.) suffered a heart attack on Tuesday, May 29th and fell into a coma. Today, he was taken off life support at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, FL. He was 48 years old.

Santolla’s mother, Sue Santolla-Rocha, checks in with the following:

“Good morning. Just so we all start to heal, Ralph Santolla is not laying on that bed at St Joseph Hospital. He has gone, and he is happy and at peace in heaven. I want to start your day with a little humor. My wonderful mother and Ralph’s grandmother passed away three years ago. One of my friends was trying to console me, Fred Parker, and had the comment that Ralph would be playing music for his Nannie. It just made me laugh to visualize Ralph playing heavy metal for his Nannie. OMG....it would be so funny... His Nannie was an amazingly strong woman and she would tell him, cut it down, and play something decent. I (love) my son more than anyone can imagine, my heart is broken. But I know he loved me unconditionally and will always be with me. It is the same with all of us, he will be with you everyone, everyday and his love will surround us now and forever. I wanted to tell everyone that I have thousands of messages...I just can’t deal with it right now but I love each of you.”

Santolla can be heard on the Deicide albums The Stench Of Redemption and To Hell With God, Memorain’s Evolution, Millenium’s Millenium, Angelfire, Hourglass, and Jericho, Obituary’s Xecutioner’s Return and Darkest Day, Iced Earth’s The Glorious Burden and lots of other releases.

He performed as a live guitarist for Death (1993), Iced Earth (2003-2004), Melechesh (2013), and Vital Remains (2006).