Category: Age: Baby

Age 0-4

Katherine McCarron

Name: Katherine “Katie” McCarronPhoto of Katie McCarron, a toddler girl with blond hair and pale skin, wearing a blue summer dresss, sitting on the carpet and playing with a Teletubby toy..
Died: May 13, 2006.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Morton, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Katie’s mother suffocated her with a plastic bag because she would not take a nap, saying that she had done it “to end [Katie’s] pain”.

Case status:
Karen McCarron (Mother); convicted of first degree murder; sentenced to 36 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Katie McCarron
Karen McCarron
“Katie McCarron”, CCDI
“Board Suspends Dr. McCarron’s License Indefinitely”
“Grandfather says Murder had nothing to do with Autism”
Katie McCarron, Charles-Antoine Blais, real children, real people.

Hevin Jenkins

Photo of Hevin Jenkins, a baby looking at the camera over the bottle he is holding and sucking on.Name: Hevin Dakota James Lee Jenkins.
Died: December 15, 2005.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Drowned.
Location: Hurricane, West Virginia, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Hevin was drowned by his aunt, and her boyfriend disposed of his body, which has never been found.

Case status:
Tonya Sloan (Aunt), second-degree murder, sentenced to 40 years.
Anthony Milam (Aunt’s boyfriend), accessory after the fact, sentenced to 1 year in prison.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Hevin Jenkins
Hevin Dakota James Lee Jenkins
Woman charged in her autistic nephew’s death

Nikolas Chavez III

Black and white photo of Nikolas Chavez, a toddler with wispy, curly blonde hair, wearing a onesie and a puzzled expression.Name: Nikolas Chavez III.
Died: November 30, 2005.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
Disability: Developmental disability.

Details:
Nikolas was beaten to death by his godfather.

Case status:
Robert Knutsen (Godfather); sentenced to 7 years, served 4 years and released.

Source:
Nikolas Tyler Chavez III
Trial begins of N.B. man accused of beating his godson to death

B. L.

No PhotoName: B. L. (Initials; full name unknown.)
Died: November 26, 2005.
Age at death: 13 months.
Cause of death: Brain damage; shaken baby.
Location: Alberta, Canada.
Disability: Developmental delay.

Details:
B. L. died of shaken baby syndrome, caused by his foster father.

Case status:
His foster father pleaded guilty to manslaughter; he was sentenced to five years, paroled within 2 years.

Source:
Learning from a sad, short life

Adacelli Snyder

Portrait photo of a toddler girl in overalls, earrings, and a buzz cut.Name: Adacelli Snyder.
Died: June 29, 2005.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Malnutrition, infection.
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Disability: Cerebral Palsy.

Details:
Adacelli’s parents neglected her and kept her in filthy conditions. She died of a combination of malnutrition and infection.

Case status:
Jack Richardson (Father), sentenced to 10 years to life.
Charlene Snyder (Mother), sentenced to 10 years to life.

Source:
Angelizdsplace: Adacelli Snyder
Parents accused in death of girl

Adrianna Cram

Photo of a little girl in a white dress; she has fair skin and her brown hair is cut in bangs and pulled into a messy half-ponytail. She is smiling at someone off the side of the image.Name: Adrianna Maria Cram.
Died: June 13, 2005.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Abdominal injury, head injury.
Location: Omealca, Mexico.
Disability: Thyroid condition; speech delay; developmental delay.

Details:
Adrianna’s adoptive parents beat her to death.

Case status:
Elizabeth Romero Marin (Adoptive mother), convicted of aggravated murder, sentenced to 45 years.
Hector de Jesus Luna (Adoptive father), convicted of aggravated murder, sentenced to 2 years.

Source:
Adrianna Maria Cram
Oregon’s investigation into foster child’s death ends at state line
Adrianna Maria Romero Cram

Eliza Scovill

Photo of Eliza Jane Scovill, a toddler with tangled auburn hair, fair skin, and brown eyes wearing a blue dress. She is smiling for the camera.Name: Eliza Jane Scovill.
Died: May 16, 2005.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Pneumonia, AIDS.
Location: Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Disability: HIV+.

Details:
Eliza loved music, singing, and dancing.

She was born to a mother who was HIV-positive and who didn’t believe that HIV causes AIDS. As a result, her mother breastfed her even though this increases the risk of passing on HIV to a baby. Eliza Jane wasn’t tested for HIV, nor was she given antiretroviral drugs, even though these could have saved her life.

She died at the age of three from pneumocystis pneumonia, an opportunistic infection associated with AIDS.

Case status:
Christine Maggiore (Mother), no charges. Died in 2008 from AIDS-related pneumonia.

Source:
Eliza Jane Scovill – Wikipedia
A Mother’s Denial, a Daughter’s Death
Christine Maggiore and Eliza Jane Scovill: Living and dying with HIV/AIDS denialism
Eliza Jane Scovill (2001-2005) – Find A Grave…
Did HIV-Positive Mom’s Beliefs Put Her Children at Risk?
Christine Maggiore, vocal skeptic of AIDS research, dies at 52

Scarlett Chen

Photo of an Asian toddler with tan skin and short black hair, smiling, and wearing a white silk blouse.Name: Scarlett Chen, also called Jia Jia.
Died: July 12, 2004.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
After Scarlett’s mother was told by a doctor that Scarlett’s autism could not be surgically cured, she drowned Scarlett in the bathtub.

Case status:
Xuan “Linda” Peng (Mother); pled guilty to manslaughter; served five years in prison.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Scarlett Chen
Killer of autistic daughter released
History of euthanasia in Canada
Tracy Latimer is dead because her father is a murderer

“Baby C”

No PhotoName: “Baby C” (Female).
Died: May 2004.
Age at death: 5 months.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Nelson, New Zealand.
Disability: Lissencephaly.

Details:
When he learned that her diagnosis would cause lifelong severe disability, Baby C’s father smothered her.

Case status:
Her father; charged with manslaughter but acquitted, even though he confessed during the trial.

Source:
Complaint from family over Baby C

Mia Depaillat

No PhotoName: Mia Depaillat.
Died: April 18, 2004.
Age at death: 21 months.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Cumming, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Developmental delay.

Details:
Mia died of injuries that her mother claimed had been caused when she had accidentally dropped Mia and she fell down a flight of stairs. However, the injuries Mia had sustained matched shaken baby syndrome, not a fall down stairs. Mia died two days afterward.

Case status:
Jill Ellen Depaillat (Mother), charged with murder; hung jury; mistrial.

Source:
Pound Pup Legacy: Mia Depaillat