Zoe Whitford

Photo: A toddler girl, sitting, in a white dress with blue flowers. She has shoulder-length blond hair and fair skin.Name: Zoe Whitford.
Died: February 10, 2018.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Dublin, Ireland.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
When Zoe attended a Montessori school, the principal noticed that her behavior was different and told her mother that she ought to have an assessment. At the assessment, she was given a diagnosis of borderline-to-mild autism, but her mother was convinced that she had severe autism with pathological demand avoidance. She thought Zoe would never get the right services and it would ruin her other child’s life.

Her mother suffocated her with a Minnie Mouse pillow; she died three days later in the hospital.

Case status:
Her mother, charged with murder, found not guilty by reason of insanity, committed to mental hospital.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Zoe Whitford
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