Hattie Carroll died after a blow from William Zanzinger

From a Nytimes article about a big new prison we're gonna build in Afghanistan:

Military officials have long been aware of serious problems with the existing detention center in Afghanistan, the Bagram Theater Internment Facility. After the prison was set up in early 2002, it became a primary site for screening prisoners captured in the fighting. Harsh interrogation methods and sleep deprivation were used widely, and two Afghan detainees died there in December 2002, after being repeatedly struck by American soldiers.

Excuse me, but when someone dies after being "repeatedly struck" by someone else, can we just say that they were killed? We don't say that Oswald died after being shot by Ruby; we say that he was killed by Ruby. Just fucking say it.