Serena died from injuries sustained in a fall in 2000 when she was drunk, which left Benson deeply saddened. Benson's mother, Serena, was an alcoholic who emotionally and physically abused Benson. At the time of the rape, Serena had been working in the cafeteria of Columbia University. Olivia was born in 1968 as the product of the rape of Serena Benson in the spring of 1967 by a food salesman named Joseph Hollister, who later committed suicide.
