Category: Age: Child

Age 5-11

Ezra Miller

Photo of a boy in a green shirt and baseball cap; he has tan skin, and is smiling, sitting cross-legged on the ground.Name: Ezra Miller, also called Ezra Decker.
Died: February 3, 2016.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Blunt-force trauma.
Location: Staunton, Virginia, USA.
Disability: ADHD, bed-wetting, speech impediment.

Details:
Ezra was beaten to death by his father because he had wet the bed.

Case status:
Steven T. Decker (Father), convicted of second-degree murder and child abuse, sentenced to 26 1/2 years in prison and 3 years probation.
Brianna Connolly (Father’s girlfriend), pleaded guilty to felony child neglect, given a suspended 10-year sentence and served 3 days in jail.

Source:
Staunton man sentenced for killing his child: Decker case
At murder trial, witness says Decker’s son’s injuries ‘didn’t fit with story’
Child-killer’s accomplice girlfriend gets 3 DAY jail sentence for 6-year-old’s beating death

Ameri Martin

Photo of Ameri Martin, a small boy with fuzzy black hair and brown skin, looking at the camera with a perplexed expression.Name: Ameri M. Martin.
Died: January 30, 2016.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Cottage Hills, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Brain injury from shaken baby syndrome.

Details:
Ameri’s family allegedly left him in the bathtub alone, even though they knew he could not sit up on his own. He drowned.

Case status:
Triston T. Boyd, charged with endangering the life or health of a child.
Elegria J. Smith, charged with endangering the life or health of a child.
Vanda D. Gates-Ross (Grandmother), charged with endangering the life or health of a child.

Source:
Three from Cottage Hills charged in 2016 death of disabled boy left in bathtub
Three charged in 2016 drowning of disabled 10-year-old in a bathtub
Today it’s 2 months since Ameri my Angel passed… – Vanda Gates-ross

Adilynn Moseman

Photo of a baby girl with curly blond hair tied in a headband, strapped into a car seat. She is smiling.Name: Adilynn Moseman
Died: January 21, 2016.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Malnutrition, pneumonia.
Location: Terre Haute, Indiana, USA.
Disability: Mitochondrial disease, microcephaly, cerebral palsy, deafblind.

Details:
Adilynn died because her parents starved her to death. At five years old, the little girl weighed just under 17 pounds. She had six- and seven-year-old siblings who were forbidden to play with her. She died of malnutrition and pneumonia.

Case status:
Tiffany Daugherty (Mother), pleaded guilty to neglect and reckless homicide, sentenced to 15 years.
Brian Moseman (Father), pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in death, given two 2 1/2-year suspended sentences, returned to prison after violating parole by drug possession.

Source:
Father in child-death case back in jail on probation, drug charges
Man sentenced to probation in connection to child starvation death arrested on meth charges
Indiana woman who starved daughter to death says 15-year sentence is ‘inappropriate’
Indiana court upholds mother’s 15-year term in neglect death
Despite early intervention, little girl died among neglect allegations
Vigo County couple arrested on neglect charges after death of 5-year-old girl who weighed 16 pounds
Vigo County Couple Face Charges After Five Year Old’s Death
Vigo Co. couple accused of starving 5-year-old daughter to death
Indiana couple charged with neglect in death of 5-year-old
One Parent Charged In Death Of Child Posts Bond
August trial date set in case of Terre Haute 5-year-old who died of starvation
Mother Accused In Daughter’s Death Now Faces More Charges
Vigo County mother in child-death case faces new charges
Trials moved for couple arrested in connection to death of 5-year-old
Indiana mom pleas in death of disabled 5-year-old daughter
Woman accused of neglecting her child to the point of death back in jail, accused of failing to report to probation…three times
Indiana mother sentenced to 15 years in the neglect death of her disabled five-year-old daughter
Man receives suspended sentence in daughter’s neglect death

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