Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Age 0-4
Name: Kushal.
Died: July 4, 2019.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Aswal, Hunsur taluk, Karnataka, India.
Disability: Epilepsy.
Details:
Kushal’s parents tried to conduct an exorcism to cure him of his epilepsy. Police say they beat him severely with a banana stem. He died of severe head injuries.
Case status:
Parimala and Shashikumar (Parents), arrested.
Name: Noah Tomlin.
Died: July 3, 2019.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Blunt head trauma, battered child syndrome.
Location: Hampton, Virginia, USA.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
Noah’s mother initially reported him missing; but his body was found and his death determined to be murder. Noah had been abused for some time before dying from a head injury.
Case Status:
Julia Tomlin (Mother), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 55 years.
Sources:
Hampton mom to serve 55 years on murder, abuse charges in son’s death
Mom pleads guilty to murdering two-year-old son who has autism
The autopsy of 2-year-old Noah Tomlin was released: His mother is now charged with murder
Body believed to be missing Virginia 2-year-old found
Autism Memorial: Noah Tomlin
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
Name: Ja’hir Gibbons.
Died: March 18, 2019.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Unspecified; received speech and developmental therapy.
Details:
Ja’hir was allegedly beaten to death by his mother’s boyfriend, whom his mother had allegedly left to babysit him despite knowing he was abusing the boy. His body showed signs of chronic child abuse.
Ja’Hir was given the nickname “Tuga” by his big brother. His favorite superhero was The Hulk.
Case status:
Dejon Waters (Mother’s boyfriend), charged with first-degree murder.
Brittany Hyc (Mother), charged with child endangerment resulting in death.
Source:
Ja’hir Gibbons, Age 2, March 18, 2019, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Boy, 5, found covered in bruises in same apartment 2-year-old died from child abuse
Boy, 5, found ‘covered in bruises’ in home where 2-year-old boy was discovered dead from child abuse
Another 2-year-old’s death connected to DCFS, Gov. Pritzker weighs in
2 in custody in connection to death of 2-year-old boy on South Side
After toddler killed, DCFS investigating worker that said boy was ‘safe’ at home
Name Unknown.
Died: December 21, 2018.
Age at death: 29 days.
Cause of death: Asphyxiation.
Location: Neelasandra, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Disability: Unknown congenital defect.
Details:
This little boy was born one of a pair of twins. He was weak at birth and had to spend ten days in the hospital after birth, and needed continued medical attention after he came home.
With the baby’s mother feeding his twin in another room and his father out buying medicine, the baby’s grandmother allegedly strangled and smothered the baby to death.
Case status:
Vijayalakshmi (Grandmother), arrested.
Source:
Days after month-old infant found dead in Bengaluru, grandmom arrested for murder
Grandmother held for infant’s murder
Name: “Miss He” (Pseudonym).
Died: October 11, 2018.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Evening Village, Hunan Province, China.
Disability: Epilepsy.
Details:
Miss He’s father was worried about having taken out loans to pay for her medical care, so he decided to buy life insurance and fake his own death. Not telling his wife what he was doing, he drove his car into a river. Three weeks later, thinking him dead, Miss He’s mother took her and her four-year-old brother to the river and drowned herself and both children.
Case status:
“Dai Guihua” (Mother–pseudonym), deceased.
Source:
A Murder-Suicide by His Wife Foiled a Man’s Fake Death
Woman kills herself after husband’s ‘death’
Devastated wife kills herself and her two kids after husband FAKES his own death for insurance payout without revealing his plan
A Chinese woman kills herself and her children after her husband faked his own death
Woman kills herself after husband’s ‘death’
湖南一男子假死骗保 反致妻子带着一双儿女自杀_
Name: Jonathan “JJ” Schmoyer.
Died: September 29, 2018.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Explosion.
Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Suspected autism.
Details:
JJ’s father rigged his car to explode. He put JJ in the car seat, lured 66-year-old family friend David Hallman into the car, and set off the explosives. All three were killed.
In suicide letters left behind, the killer mentioned that he “had something against autism, which he suspected JJ had.”
From JJ’s obituary:
“JJ was a loving, intelligent and inquisitive child who loved to explore, laugh, take walks, roller skate and play patty-cake. JJ also loved to eat Subway meatball sandwiches and he adored Thomas the Tank [Engine] and his Spider-Man and SpongeBob t-shirts.”
Case status:
Jacob Schmoyer (Father), deceased.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Jonathan Schmoyer
View Jonathan Schmoyer’s Obituary on mcall.com and share memories
Cops: ‘Miserable’ dad rigged car to explode, killing 2-year-old son, friend and himself
Allentown car explosion: Jacob Schmoyer committed murder-suicide using homemade explosives, ATF says
Allentown Car Bomb: Mystery Surrounds Grisly Deaths of 2 Men and Child in Explosion
Allentown car explosion: Toddler’s mom searching for answers, too
Name: Dante Mullinix.
Died: September 15, 2018.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Head injury, strangulation.
Location: Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Developmental disability, nonverbal, autism.
Details:
Dante was a happy baby. He had a developmental delay, and had difficulty chewing and swallowing. He could say a few words, like “ew” and “yeah”. He was being evaluated for autism.
His aunt called him “Monkey Man” because he had a favorite blanket with a monkey on it which he carried everywhere. Before he went to sleep, he rubbed his face against his blanket.
Dante’s mother left him with her friend; shortly thereafter, Dante was brought to the hospital, unresponsive, with bruises, a compressed neck, and a brain injury, and died a few days later. The babysitter was charged with murder, but acquitted; Dante’s mother, who admitted to not seeking medical care for him, was sentenced to 5 years probation.
Case status:
Leah Mullinix (Mother), pleaded guilty to child endangerment, sentenced to 5 years probation.
Tyree Bowie (Mother’s friend), charged with first- and third-degree murder; acquitted.
Source:
Mother won’t serve jail time for neglecting Dante Mullinix before his death
Autism Memorial: Dante Mullinix
Police charge aunt for sharing documents about abused nephew’s death: ‘I’m exposing the truth’
‘This poor kid was doomed from the beginning:’ The tragic life and death of Dante Mullinix
Name: Abel Joseph Leveque-Flett.
Died: August 23, 2018.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Undetermined; after severe abuse.
Location: Little Grand Rapids, Manitoba, Canada.
Disability: Epilepsy, developmental disability, mobility impairment.
Details:
Abel was dead on arrival to a nursing station. He had seven broken bones, severe bruising, and burns. An autopsy was inconclusive because it could not be determined whether he had died from his disability or from the abuse he had endured, but his caregivers were both convicted of “failing to provide the necessaries of life”.
Case Status:
Houston Bushie (Temporary guardian), pleaded guilty to failing to provide the necessaries of life, sentenced to 3 years.
Alayna Flett (Family member, temporary guardian), pleaded guilty to failing to provide the necessaries of life.
Sources:
Guardian sentenced to 3 years for death of toddler who had ‘profoundly disturbing’ injuries
Mar 2021: First Nation demands justice in boy’s death
Manitoba’s families minister calls for review of boy’s death after caregivers charged
Temporary guardians charged in connection with death of 3-year-old in Little Grand Rapids, Man.
Name: Emma Rose Bingaman.
Died: July 30, 2018.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Mt. Morris, Michigan, USA.
Disability: Developmental delay, seizures; prematurity.
Details:
Emma was abused by her parents for most of her life. She died from a beating aged 2, weighing less than ten pounds.
Case status:
George Bingaman (Father), convicted of felony murder, first-degree child abuse, torture and two counts of child abuse in the presence of another child; sentenced to 10-30 years.
Destiny Bingaman (Mother), convicted of felony murder, first-degree child abuse, torture and two counts of child abuse in the presence of another child; sentenced to 13 1/2 to 30 years.
Source:
Two mid-Michigan parents sentenced in death of 3-year-old
Toddler’s alleged abuse ‘one of the worst cases’ doctor ever saw
Officials investigating if others knew of alleged abuse that killed 2-year-old
Parents of Mt. Morris Township 3-year-old officially charged with murder
Flint-area parents charged in death of 2-year-old daughter
Charges announced against parents in 3-year-old girl’s death
Emma Rose Bingaman
Parents heading to trial in death of 3-year-old
Parents bound over in beating death of 2-year-old daughter