Mx. Daxer – Page 61 – Disability Day of Mourning

Wilma Melchert

Name: Wilma Melchert.
Died: June 12, 2019.
Age at death: 85.
Cause of death: Morphine overdose.
Location: Gillespie, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Dementia, diabetes.

Details:
Wilma did a lot of volunteer work and was active in her community, went to church and was a member of the Lions Club. Her daughter, Denise, says that her mother “wanted to live.”

Wilma’s daughter-in-law took her home from her nursing home and poisoned her with a morphine overdose.

Case status:
Amy Melchert (Daughter-in-law), pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 5 years.

Source:
Woman sentenced in mother-in-law’s death
Metro East woman sentenced for role in overdose death of mother-in-law
Wood River nurse charged with killing mother-in-law in hospice

Alma Shaver

Name: Alma Shaver.
Died: June 10, 2019.
Age at death: 80.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Brick Township, New Jersey, USA.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Alma’s husband shot her in a murder-suicide.

She was a homemaker who led a Girl Scout troop and raised three daughters.

Case status:
Richard Shaver (Husband), deceased.

Source:
Sweethearts Forever. Then Came Alzheimer’s, Murder and Suicide.

Betty Crews

Name: Betty Elouise Crews.
Died: June 7, 2019.
Age at death: 72.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Harriman, Tennessee, USA.
Disability: Disabled elder.

Details:
Betty lived with her daughter and another caretaker. Their lack of care led to her starvation death.

Case status:
Christopher Kennedy, convicted of felony murder; at large.
Evelyn Kennedy (Daughter), convicted of felony murder, sentenced to 51 years to life.

Source:
Convicted murderer at large after Roane County trial
Daughter, one other charged with murder after 72-year-old mother starved to death in Roane County
Daughter charged in starving death of elderly mother
Caretakers charged in starvation death of Roane County woman
Obituary of Betty Elouise Crews | Harriman Location

No Photo
Name: Valerie Valdez.
Died: June 3, 2019.
Age at death: 25.
Cause of death: Dehydration, cough medicine and acetaminophen overdose.
Location: Rockdale, Texas, USA.
Disability: Down syndrome.

Details:
Valerie’s mother is charged with killing her with an overdose of medication. Police believe she had been deliberately keeping her daughter sedated.

Case status:
Frances Valdez (Mother), charged with murder.

Source:
Rockdale mother charged in disabled daughter’s death
Rockdale woman arrested in connection to her daughters death
Valerie Valdez June 23 1993 June 3 2019, death notice, USA

Eiichiro Kumazawa

Name: Eiichiro Kumazawa.
Died: June 1, 2019.
Age at death: 44.
Cause of death: Stab wounds.
Location: Tokyo, Japan.
Disability: Developmental disability, hikikomori.

Details:
Eiichiro’s father stabbed him to death. He claimed self-defense, but Eiichiro had 36 stab wounds, while his father was barely scratched.

Case status:
Hideaki Kumazawa (Father), convicted of murder, sentenced to 6 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Eiichiro Kumazawa
6-yr prison term upheld for ex-top bureaucrat over murder of son
Ex-elite bureaucrat accused of murdering son pleads not guilty
Ex-top bureaucrat appeals sentence for killing son
Ex-Bureaucrat Given 6-Year Prison Term over Murder of Son
Ex-top bureaucrat sentenced to six years in jail for murdering son
Japanese man is jailed for killing violent, reclusive son with kitchen knife
8 Years Sought for Ex-Bureaucrat over Murder of His Son
Tokyo prosecutors demand eight-year prison term for ex-farm bureaucrat Hideaki Kumazawa
8-year jail term sought for ex-top bureaucrat for murdering son
元次官長男殺害「引きこもりは恥」と考える親の問題点

Zayden JayNesahkluah

Name: Zayden JayNesahkluah.
Died: May 31, 2019.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Methadone poisoning.
Location: Wichita, Kansas, USA.
Disability: Possible developmental disability.

Details:
Zayden was described as “a difficult child,” with a possible developmental disability. In the months before his death, his mother looked for someone else to take care of him. His father and grandmother were both willing to, but his mother never dropped him off. His mother gave him enough methadone to kill an adult, and Zayden died. She tried to argue that it had been accidental, but authorities found methadone in his juice cups, and the jury concluded that his death had been murder.

Zayden’s grandmother remembers him as “unique” and “fun”.

Case Status:
Kimberly Compass (Mother), convicted of first-degree murder.

Source:
2-Year-Old Overdoses After Consuming Enough Methadone To Kill Adult As Mother Charged With Murder
Jury convicts Wichita mom of murder in son’s methadone ingestion death
Kansas mother convicted of murder after toddler’s methadone overdose
Mother convicted after toddler consumes enough methadone to kill adult
Wichita woman convicted in 2-year-old son’s methadone death

Sachio Uzue

No Photo Name: Sachio Uzue.
Died: May 30, 2019.
Age at death: 86.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Disability: Dementia, physical disability that made it difficult to walk.

Details:
Sachio’s husband was arrested on suspicion of killing her by stabbing her in the neck and bludgeoning her with a frying pan. Police say he told them he was distressed because she had dementia and wanted to die with her.

Case status:
Toshio Uzue (Husband), arrested on suspicion of murder.

Source:
69-year-old man arrested for killing 86-year-old wife who had dementia

Frances Kelly

Name: Frances Kelly.
Died: May 29, 2019.
Age at death: 93.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Bartlett, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Frances’s son stabbed her in the back, killing her. At trial, though both sides agreed that Frances’s son had a mental illness, the prosecution argued that his motive had been frustration with his mother’s worsening dementia and that he knew that what he was doing was wrong.

Frances loved playing cribbage. She lived to see the birth of her first great-grandchild.

Case Status:
Edward Mitzelfeld (Son); charged with murder, declared guilty but mentally ill, sentenced to 27 years.

Sources:
Insane or just irked? Bartlett man on trial, accused of killing mother
Bartlett man found guilty but mentally ill in murder of his mother
Bartlett Man Found Guilty But Mentally Ill in the Stabbing Death of his 93-Year-Old Mother

Melissa Pierce

Name: Melissa Pierce.
Died: May 24, 2019.
Age at death: 47.
Cause of death: Malnutrition/dehydration.
Location: Chesterfield, Virginia, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, intellectual disability.

Details:
Melissa’s body was found in her bed; she had died of malnutrition and dehydration due to neglect. She lived with family and her sister was listed as her primary caregiver.

Case status:
Davina Blackwell (sister), charged with felony murder.

Source:
Death of disabled Chesterfield woman has been ruled a case of neglect and homicide
Chesterfield woman charged with felony murder and neglect in sister’s death
‘Killed by who?’ Family says Chesterfield woman found dead in her home wasn’t neglected
Medical Examiner: Chesterfield woman died of ‘starvation and dehydration’; Death ruled homicide

Penny Clark

Photo: A woman with fair skin and blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, sitting at a desk, smiling for the camera. She is wearing a blue T-shirt, and leaning her head in one hand. Name: Penny Laine Clark.
Died: May 20, 2019.
Age at death: 45.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Biloxi, Mississippi, USA.
Disability: Epilepsy, mental illness.

Details:
Penny’s boyfriend beat and strangled her, then called police saying she “needed help”; police arrived to find her dead. Her boyfriend’s sister told police that Penny’s boyfriend had a history of abusing her, and that she had been beaten up in the past.

Case Status:
Gary Wayne Wallace (Boyfriend), convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to life.

Sources:
Biloxi man gets life in prison for girlfriend’s murder in 2019
Arrest warrant reveals disturbing, bloody details in murder of Biloxi woman
“His face was black and blue.” Coast murder trial testimony reveals history of domestic abuse