Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Age 0-4
Name: Dianna Lam Phan.
Died: November 4, 1991.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA.
Disability: “Born brain-damaged”; visually impaired.
Details:
Dianna was shot by her mother in a murder-suicide.
Case status:
Stacy Phuong Phan (Mother), deceased.
Source:
Girl Died of Gunshot Before Being Hit by Car
Lam Phan (1987-1991) – Find A Grave Memorial
Name: Jeni Cazares, also called Yeni Lezama, Jenny, or Yeni Cazares.
Died: May 19, 1991.
Age at death: 3 months.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Santa Ana, California, USA.
Disability: Down syndrome.
Details:
Jeny’s mother smashed her head; then her parents both helped hide her body.
Case status:
Oscar Lezama, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, sentenced to 11 years.
Rocio Cazares (Mother), pleaded guilty to being an accessory, sentenced to 5 years probation.
Source:
Mother Charged With Murdering Infant Daughter in Her Apartment
Name: Samuel Linares.
Died: April 26, 1989.
Age at death: 16 months.
Cause of death: Hypoxia; ventilator disconnected.
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Disability: PVS due to hypoxic brain damage.
Details:
Samuel had choked on a balloon and, eight months later, was still on life support in the hospital. His father went to the hospital, pulled a gun on the staff, shut off the ventilator, and held the staff at gunpoint until Samuel died.
Case status:
Rudy Linares (Father), pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon, sentenced to 1 year probation. Grand jury refused to indict for first-degree murder.
Source:
When life is a fate worse than death
Questions of Law Live On After Father Helps Son Die
FATHER IS CLEARED IN ILL BABY’s DEATH
Grand Jury Rejects Murder Count : Teary Father Not Charged in Death of Comatose Boy
GRAND JURY REFUSES TO INDICT DAD WHO PULLED PLUG ON SON
Samuel Linares (1988 – 1989)
Name: Anginetta Clayton.
Died: January 17, 1989.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Oxford, Mississippi, USA.
Disability: Microcephaly.
Details:
Anginetta’s mother starved her to death.
Case status:
Bessie Marie Clayton (Mother); convicted of “depraved heart” murder; sentenced to life.
Name: Brian Myers.
Died: November 27, 1987.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Skull fracture.
Location: Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.
Details:
Brian was beaten by his foster parents until he died of a skull fracture. Before Brian died they had been able to escape suspicion for their abuse despite the baby’s bruises because they blamed his injuries on Brian’s disability, claiming he hurt himself.
Case status:
Janet Portman (foster mother), pled guilty to second-degree criminal abuse, sentenced to 6 months in jail and 5 years probation.
Michael Portman (foster father), not guilty of child abuse.
Source:
Misplaced Mercy
Board rules cabinet was negligent in death of child, orders award
Agency found negligent in death of toddler; state to pay $100,000
Name: Frédéric Ratier.
Died: November 2, 1987.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Neuroleptic overdose.
Location: France.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, epilepsy.
Details:
32 years after his death, Frédéric’s mother wrote a book in which she confessed to poisoning him with a bottle of neuroleptic medicine. The boy lingered in a coma for three days before dying on his third birthday.
In her book, Frédéric’s mother says she spent the first three years of Frédéric’s life trying to cure him; that lack of support was not a factor; and that she had “given death” to her son because she believed his life was not worth living.
Case Status:
Anne Ratier (Mother), no charges. Statute of limitations on murder in France is 30 years.
Sources:
Anne Ratier
Ratier, A. (2019). J’ai offert la mort à mon fils. City.
“J’ai offert la mort à mon fils” handicapé : le témoignage d’une mère ne passe pas
Anne Ratier a ‘offert la mort à son fils’ : son livre choc
Name: Eric Bernstein.
Died: May 11, 1987.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Broomall, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Hypoxic brain injury at birth, causing cerebral palsy.
Details:
After putting her son through months of intensive, 15-hour-a-day therapy to try to cure him, Eric’s mother, seeing that he wasn’t going to be cured, shot him to death.
Case status:
Irene Torres Bernstein (Mother), pleaded no contest to third-degree murder, sentenced to a $1000 fine and 5 years probation.
Source:
Mom Pleads No Contest In Son’s Killing
Mom Given Probation Didn’t Ask For Mercy In Tot’s Death
Name: Louise Brown.
Died: May 28, 1984.
Age at death: 14 days.
Cause of death: Homicide.
Location: London, England, UK.
Disability: Down syndrome.
Details:
Louise’s father told police that Louise had been in the family car when it was stolen. When the truth emerged, it was found that Louise had been killed by her father because he could not accept her disability, and her uncle had helped get rid of the body.
Case status:
Paul Brown (Father), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 5 years, served less than 2.
Ian Brown (Uncle), served 9 months in jail for helping dispose of Louise’s body.
Source:
Killer Dad Jailed for Murder of Brother; Daughter was first victim.
Name: Baby McKay (Never named).
Died: June 18, 1983.
Age at death: Newborn.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Harvey, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Trisomy 13 (Possibly).
Details:
When Baby McKay’s father saw his son’s cleft palate and webbed fingers and had it explained that the baby might have Trisomy 13, he bashed the infant’s head against the delivery room floor, killing him.
Case status:
Daniel McKay (Father). Charged with murder. Case dismissed after two hung juries.
Name: Katonya Jackson.
Died: 1983.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Untreated epilepsy.
Location: Micanopy, Florida, USA.
Disability: Epilepsy.
Details:
Katonya’s mother was in a cult called the House of Prayer, and gave her and her brother to the pastor of the church to care for.
Katonya had seizures, which the pastor took to mean that she had the devil in her. Katonya’s family says she starved and beat Katonya and refused to give her her epilepsy medication.
Katonya died, covered in bruises, from untreated epilepsy. Her death was ruled “preventable”.
Case status:
Lea Vera Jackson (Mother), arrested and released without charges.
Anna Young (House of Prayer pastor), convicted of child abuse in the case of Nikki Nickelson; served six months; convicted of manslaughter, in the case of Katonya Jackson, sentenced to 15 years; convicted of first-degree murder of Eamon “Moses” Harper, sentenced to 30 years concurrent with the manslaughter sentence.
Source:
Cult leader’s daughter gives an inside look at the House of Prayer
Anna Young gets 30 years in toddler’s death
Death, abuse and questions — life in an Alachua County cult
House of Prayer residents say torture, abuse was common
Survivors ask: Why did cult misdeeds go by ‘wayside’?
Mother Anna: The Cult Leader Suspected of Torture and Murder