Payal Sawant

No PhotoName: Payal Sawant.
Died: November 30, 2015.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Disability: Paraplegic, intellectually disabled.

Details:
Payal and her 8-year-old sister were tortured by their stepmother when their father was away at work. Payal’s stepmother tried to pass off her death as a natural one, but police saw the marks of abuse on her body. Payal may have died when she was strangled, or when she had her head slammed into a wall.

Case status:
Pratibha Sawant (Stepmother); convicted of torture and murder, sentenced to life in prison.

Source:
Bhandup woman held for torturing, killing stepdaughter
Mumbai: Stepmother booked for killing 6-year-old mentally unstable girl
Woman gets life for torture, murder of six-year-old stepdaughter

Adrian Jones

Photo of Adrian Jones, a small boy with dark hair in a buzz cut, light-brown skin, and dark eyes. His left eyelid droops slightly; his expression is neutral. He is wearing a red, gray, and and white T-shirt.Name: Adrian Jones.
Died: September or October 2015; body found November 26, 2015.
Age at death: 7.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Kansas City, Kansas, USA.
Disability: “Special needs”; PTSD and reactive attachment disorder.

Details:
Adrian was confined to a bedroom, where he was beaten by his father and starved by his parents. When he died of starvation after having been confined to a shower for the last month of his life, his father fed his body to his pigs.

Case status:
Heather Jones (Stepmother), pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and child abuse, sentenced to 25 years to life.
Michael Jones (Father), pleaded guilty to child abuse, aggravated battery and aggravated assault, sentenced to 25 years to life.

Source:

Kansas will pay $1 million over the murder of torture victim whose body was fed to pigs
Prosecutor: Abuse charges just ‘tip of the iceberg’ in Michael Jones case
Stepmom enters plea in death of Kan. boy; remains found in pig pen
US stepmother pleads guilty to murder of boy fed to pigs
Kansas woman gets life term in 7-year-old stepson’s death
Life sentence expected for father who confessed to killing son, feeding body to pigs
Father to be sentenced after abusing, killing, feeding son to pigs
‘Daddy keeps hitting me’: Boy who was killed, fed to pigs told authorities about abuse
Father who tortured, killed 7-year-old Adrian Jones sentenced to life in prison
A life of torture: Kansas boy was starved, beaten for years until he died and parents fed him to pigs
Social worker knew 7-year-old was killed and fed to pigs was being tortured

Helious Griffith

Photo of a toddler with short, light hair against a black background. His head is larger than average. He is smiling.Name: Helious Griffith.
Died: November 7, 2015.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Mesa, Arizona, USA.
Disability: Dystonic cerebral palsy.

Details:
Helious was born on Christmas Eve and named for the Greek god of the sun.

Child protective services had opened a case on Helious. Brought to the hospital, he was thin and having trouble breathing. They were investigating his mother for neglect because Helios had in the past been seen underweight and dirty.

DCS held a meeting and decided that they would file a petition for in-home dependency so that Helious could be monitored closely. Afraid that she would lose custody for good, his mother strangled him with a length of tubing and then shot herself.

Case status:
Lola “Tammy” T. Griffith (Mother), deceased.

Source:
Mesa police identify mother, son in murder-suicide at children’s hospital
5-Year-Old Boy in Mesa Murder-Suicide Found With Ligature Around His Neck, Police Say

6-year-old girl

No PhotoName Unknown.
Died: October 29, 2015.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
This six-year-old girl’s mother is accused of stabbing her to death. Police say she initially tried to blame the girl’s death on strangers forcing their way into her house. But investigators found out that the girl’s mother had beaten her several times before, and no one had forced their way into her house or stolen anything.

Case status:
Her mother, arrested.

Source:
Police suspect mother in handicapped girl’s murder
Autistic child stabbed to death in Saudi
Autism Memorial: 6-year-old female, name unknown

Lalia Hawthorne

Photo of a small child in a red polo shirt. She has fair skin, round brown eyes, and blonde hair in a buzz cut.Name: Lalia Delinar Hawthorne.
Died: October 27, 2015.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Abdominal trauma.
Location: Savannah, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Down syndrome.

Details:
Lalia was beaten to death by her mother’s boyfriend.

Case status:
James Emmanuel Robinson (Mother’s boyfriend), convicted of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault and three counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, sentenced to life without parole.

Source:
Supreme Court upholds murder conviction against man who killed 4-year-old
Lalia Hawthorne – Obituary
Savannah man sentenced to life without parole in 2015 murder of four year old girl

Janiya Thomas

Photo of Janiya Thomas, an African-American girl with her hair in a few straggly dreadlocks, wearing a striped shirt.Name: Janiya Thomas.
Died: Last seen June 9, 2014; body found October 18, 2015.
Age at death: 11.
Cause of death: Homicide.
Location: Bradenton, Florida, USA.
Disability: Unnamed bowel/digestive condition, causing incontinence.

Details:
Janiya was last seen by child protective services about a month before her mother, citing Janiya’s medical condition, a digestive problem which had killed Janiya’s father, announced to the state that she had decided to home-school Janiya. In reality, she abused Janiya, locking her in the bathroom for days at a time to punish her.

More than a year later, when her mother publicly beat Janiya’s older brother and child protective services came for Janiya’s four siblings, Janiya was not with them and the children reported that they had not seen Janiya in a long time. Several days later, Janiya’s body was found in a freezer, and her mother was arrested. An autopsy found that Janiya had been starved, suffocated, or drowned.

Janiya was a shy girl who liked hot tortilla chips and baby dolls.

Case status:
Keishanna Thomas (Mother), pleaded no contest to second-degree murder, sentenced to 65 years.

Source:
Mother who hid daughter’s body in freezer gets 65 years
Investigators hope to learn more about presumed death of missing Bradenton girl Janiya Thomas
Autopsy: Janiya Thomas starved, suffocated or drowned
Mother of 11-Year-Old Found Dead in Padlocked Freezer Indicted for Murder; Court Papers Reveal Allegations of Horrific Abuse

Sze-ming Chan

Blurry photo of a small boy with tan skin and short black hair, wearing a red shirt and black backpack.Name: Sze-ming Chan.
Died: September 5, 2015.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Poisoning.
Location: Hong Kong, China.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Sze-ming’s father killed him and kept the body in his apartment. About five or six days later, he killed himself and Sze-ming’s eight-year-old brother Sze-ho by filling the apartment with charcoal smoke.

Case status:
Chun-hing Chan (Father), deceased.

Source:
Hong Kong father who killed his sons in murder-suicide ‘saw his fortune disappear after inviting dishonest relative to run his business’
Triple murder-suicide: Hong Kong father took son for breakfast before returning to flat to burn charcoal
Autism Memorial: Sze-ming Chan

La’Marion Jordan

Closeup photo of La'Marion Jordan, a small African-American boy with medium-brown skin and close-cropped black hair.Name: La’Marion Jordan.
Died: September 4, 2015.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Lancaster, South Carolina, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
La’Marion’s adoptive father picked him up and threw him down the hallway, causing a fatal head injury.

Case status:
Robert Jordan (Adoptive father), pleaded guilty to infliction of great bodily injury upon a child, sentenced to 14-20 years.

Source:
Father charged with homicide by child abuse after disabled 5-year-old son dies
Lancaster man pleads guilty in adopted son’s death

Mr. Sulpizio

No PhotoName: Unknown. Possibly surnamed Sulpizio, like his mother.
Died: August 6, 2015.
Age at death: 7.
Cause of death: Neglect.
Location: Four Oaks, North Carolina, USA.
Disability: Multiple disabilities; non-verbal, blind, brain injury.

Details:
This seven-year-old boy was neglected by his mother. She kept her own room air-conditioned, but the little boy had to live in a filthy room that reached 95 degrees in the summer heat. He died of neglect.

Case status:
Donna Mae Sulpizio (Mother), convicted of intentional child abuse resulting in severe bodily injury, sentenced to 8 years 9 months 24 days; minimum 6 years.

Source:
Mother indicted following death of handicapped child
NC DPS Offender Public Information

Meredith Jessie

Photo of a little pale-skinned girl in a pink dress. Her brown hair is cut short in a boy cut. She has her hands on her hips and is smiling slightly.Name: Meredith Jessie.
Died: July 18, 2015.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Lakeland, Florida, USA.
Disability: Diagnosed (possibly incorrectly) with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Details:
Meredith’s mother was afraid that her fiancé was going to leave her. She saw Meredith as an impediment to her relationship with her fiance. Twice she had Meredith hospitalized for psychiatric issues, though it’s unknown whether Meredith actually had a mental illness or whether her mother was just obsessed with the idea that she did.

Meredith’s mother stabbed Meredith to death; she also killed her father.

Case status:
Cheyanne Jessie (Mother), convicted of two counts of murder, sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Source:
Cheyanne Jessie sentenced to life in prison for murder of father and daughter
Polk jury begins deliberations in murder trial of Cheyanne Jessie, Lakeland woman accused of killing her daughter, 6, and dad
Family wants death penalty for Lakeland woman accused of…