The headline was misleading. It isn't until you get to paragraph 4 that you find out that she is still alive, but on life support. We obviously have a different view on what is considered death.
Two months ago, we had to take my aunt off of life support. Leading up to that we had time for friends and other family members to say their goodbye. Despite being in a coma, and being kept alive by machine, we were amazed when several times she was able to lightly grip my mother's hand..As far I'm concerned death is when it is declared officially by the doctor.
With your journalism experience, you should know the importance of an eye grabbing headline, worded to get as many readers to "click" and read. Many times I have been attracted by the headline, followed by reading the content and realizing the truth is a bit different. And of course, there are still the reporters who want to be first with the big story (TMZ comes to mind).