Age: Child – Page 8 – Disability Day of Mourning

9-year-old boy

No Photo Name Unknown.
Died: April 21, 2021.
Age at death: 9.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
This 9-year-old boy lived with his father in a house with an old, dirty swimming pool out back. There was no fence around the pool, nor safety locks on the door to the outside. Child protective services has reported that he had once been found wandering alone outside.

On the day he died, the boy’s father reported that he had left the back door open, and the boy had fallen into the pool. Instead of calling emergency services, he called the child’s mother, and then only called emergency services when she told him to do so. At first reluctant to retrieve the child from the pool because he was afraid of water and could not swim, he finally fished him out with a rake and did CPR. The boy was declared brain-dead at the hospital.

Case Status:
Gareth Grant (Father), pleaded no contest to aggravated manslaughter; sentenced to one year of community control and five years of probation.

Source:
Port St. Lucie man enters plea deal sparing him prison time in drowning of 9-year-old son
Port St. Lucie Police Detectives Arrest Man for Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child in Drowning Death of His Son
Father jailed on aggravated manslaughter of a child charge after son’s death in Port St. Lucie
Man arrested in connection with son’s drowning death in Port St. Lucie
Dad arrested for manslaughter after 9-year-old autistic son found at bottom of pool
Port St. Lucie man charged with manslaughter in autistic son’s drowning
Autism Memorial: 9-year-old boy

Jax Ponomarenko

Name: Jax Ponomarenko.
Died: March 25, 2021.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Beaten with baseball bat.
Location: Parma, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Jax’s father called 911, saying, “I’ve killed my son,” and claimed he had been hearing voices. He then described how he had beaten the boy to death with a baseball bat.

Jax used a tablet to communicate.

Case Status:
Matthew Ponomarenko (Father), pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, kidnapping, and child endangerment; sentenced to 45 years to life.

Source:
Parma father who beat 5-year-old son to death with baseball bat avoids death penalty, will spend life in prison
Autism Memorial: Jax Ponomarenko
Man Pleads Not Guilty After 911 Call Shows Alleged Confession in Baseball Bat Murder of 5-Year-Old Son
Matthew J Ponomarenko: Parma dad beats autistic son with baseball bat, calls 911: ‘I’m hearing voices’
5-year-old boy killed in Parma, boy’s father arrested, police say
Matthew Ponomarenko beats autistic son, Jax, 5, to death w/ baseball bat
GRAPHIC: ‘I just killed my son after hearing voices,’ Parma, Ohio dad tells 911 dispatcher
Ohio dad admits killing autistic 5-year-old son with baseball bat

Janevive Adienge

No Photo Name: Janevive Adienge.
Died: February 25, 2021.
Age at death: Child.
Cause of death: Poisoning.
Location: Homa Bay, Kenya.
Disability: Unspecified.

Details:
Janeveve’s uncle told her mother that he was signing Janeveve up for some help from a charity, but then he instead signed Janeveve and her mother up for a life-insurance policy, with himself as the beneficiary. A year later, one of her uncle’s friends distracted her mother with some forms that he said she needed to fill out to get assistance; while her mother was busy, he gave Janeveve poison. Janeveve’s mother called for help, but it arrived too late for the girl, who died. The killer and an associate were both convicted of murder, but the judge found that, although the uncle had been involved in the plot, there was insufficient evidence to charge him.

Case Status:
Lucas Odhiambo Okello (Uncle), not charged.
Kevin Ogot (Killer), convicted of murder.
Moses Omondi Sumba (Accomplice), convicted of murder.

Sources:
Two found guilty of killing disabled child for insurance claim
Two found guilty of killing disabled child for insurance claim

Jerome Brown

No Photo Name: Jerome Brown.
Died: February 14, 2021.
Age at death: 11.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Paynesville, Greater Monrovia, Liberia.
Disability: Epilepsy.

Details:
Jerome was born with epilepsy, and when she could not find a cure for him in the spiritual treatments she sought, his mother left him to his father to raise. A neighbor reported finding him close to death in his father’s home; shortly after being found, Jerome died.

Jerome’s mother says that his father starved him to death, and that photos of his body in an extremely emaciated condition corroborate her claims. Police initially declared that he had died of epilepsy; but Jerome’s death was eventually declared to be a homicide and his father and stepmother arrested.

Case Status:
Emmanuel Brown (Father), charged with manslaughter.
Wanneh Tarpalah (Stepmother), charged with manslaughter.

Source:
Little Jerome’s Mother Seeks Justice
Court To Try Couple For Alleged Manslaughter, After 11-Yr-Old Son Starved To Death
“No Foul Play in Little Jerome’s Death” (Caution: graphic images of starvation)
Child, 11, Starved to Death (Caution: graphic images of starvation)

Nanako Tokutani

No Photo Name: Nanako Tokutani.
Died: February 13, 2021.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Kawakami, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
Disability: Unspecified.

Details:
Police found Nanako’s body floating in a lake, and her father, soaked with water, in his car in the parking lot. He allegedly kidnapped her from her special needs school, took her to the lake, and drowned her. He told police that his daughter’s disability was “a burden to [his] wife” and that he wanted to “escape this life”.

Case Status:
Kazuhiko Tokutani (Father), suspected of murder.

Source:
Nara: Man killed disabled 10-year-old daughter ‘to escape this life’
Man arrested in Nara Prefecture allegedly killed disabled daughter “to escape this life”

Peter Cuacuas

Name: Peter Cuacuas.
Died: February 10, 2021.
Age at death: 7.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Newburgh, New York, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Peter lived with his mother, but saw his father every Saturday. He stopped attending his online classes in January; in February, he was brought to the hospital, dead on arrival from starvation and weighing only 37 pounds. He died because his mother kept him locked into his room and denied him food.

Case Status:
Letitia Bravo (Mother), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 15 years.
Arturo Cuacuas (Father), pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide, sentenced to one and one-third to four years in prison.

Sources:
Caregiver pleads guilty in starvation death of 7-year-old boy
Memorial marks 1 year since starvation death of Newburgh boy
Dad Admits Role In Child’s Death, Will Testify Against Girlfriend
Autism Memorial: Peter Cuacuas
‘He weighed 37 pounds, and he was 7 years old.’ Questions linger following Newburgh boy’s death
Inquiry To Be Launched Into Newburgh Schools Following Starvation Death Of 7-Year-Old Peter Cuacuas
Letitia Bravo Facing Murder Charges After 7-Year-Old Peter Cuacuas Dies Of Starvation

Jamal Anderson Jr.

Name: Jamal Anderson Jr.
Died: February 8, 2021.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Disability: Down syndrome.

Details:
Jamal died from a gunshot wound to the stomach. Intially, his father claimed that Jamal had been shot by home invaders; but when police found the murder weapon in a backpack outside the house, it turned out to be his father’s gun.

Jamal loved music and dancing and could often be found talking to relatives on his iPhone.

Case Status:
Jamal Anderson Sr. (Father), pleaded guilty to child neglect, sentenced to 12 years in prison, 8 years extended supervision, and “over $1000” in restitution.

Sources:
Dad charged after son, 5, with Down syndrome fatally shot in stomach
Jamal Anderson, Jr.
12 years in prison for Milwaukee father in fatal shooting of son
My son life was taken by gun violence at 5yrs old, organized by Jaquita Harbour

5-year-old girl

Name Unknown.
Died: December 30, 2020.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Untreated ruptured intestine due to blunt-force trauma.
Location: Kampung Sungai Cincin, Gombek, Malaysia.
Disability: Hydrocephalus, mobility impaired.

Details:
This five-year-old girl’s grandaunt is charged with killing her by kicking her in the stomach repeatedly and causing an intestinal rupture, which, untreated, proved fatal. Her father is charged with neglecting her by not taking her to a doctor when she was clearly severely injured.

Case status:
Ipzuma Ambo (grandaunt), charged with murder.
Roza Iskandar Mardi (Father), charged with child neglect.

Source:
Grandaunt, father of disabled girl charged with murder, neglect
Grandaunt and father of 5-year-old girl charged with murder, neglect [NSTTV]
Father, grandaunt among 6 nabbed over death of 5-year old disabled girl
Abuse suspected in disabled child’s death
5yo Disabled Child Dies From Ruptured Intestines After Alleged Abuse By Grandmother
Kanak-kanak 5 tahun pecah usus disepak nenek saudara [METROTV]
Police arrest six over suspected abuse, death of five-year-old disabled girl | The Star

Ms. Hsu and her children

No Photo Name: Ms. Hsu.
Age at death: 57.
Disability: Cancer.

24-year-old man.
Disability: Epilepsy.

11-year-old girl.
Disability: Aphasia.

Died: December 4, 2020.
Cause of death: Carbon monoxide poisoning.
Location: Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.

Details:
Ms. Hsu and her two children were killed by her husband, their father, when he put them in the back seat of their car and gassed all of them to death with the exhaust fumes.

Case status:
Mr. Chien (Husband, father), deceased.

Source:
Group urges awareness of caregivers after deaths
Family of four found dead in apparent murder-suicide in Kaohsiung

Jamarion Delancy

Name: Jamarion Javante Delancy.
Died: November 18, 2020.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Internal injuries.
Location: St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Disability: Blind, developmental disability, used leg braces.

Details:
Jamarion’s mother was at the hospital, having a baby. She left Jamarion and his big sister with her boyfriend. The following day, Jamarion was brought to the hospital, unconscious and bleeding internally, and died hours later. Police arrested Jamarion’s mother’s boyfriend; he is accused of fatally beating Jamarion while his seven-year-old sister watched.

Case status:
Yoshuah Dallas (Mother’s boyfriend), charged with abuse or neglect of a child causing death and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Source:
Mom’s Boyfriend Allegedly Beat Her Blind 5-Year-Old to Death While She Was Giving Birth
Donations as far away as France pile up after blind boy killed in St. Louis County
5-Year-Old Blind Boy Beaten to Death While Mom Gives Birth: Cops
‘She has to bring a baby home from the hospital while planning her son’s funeral’ | St. Louis County police union raising money for victim’s family
As mom gives birth at hospital, boyfriend beats her blind 5-year-old son to death: Police
St. Louis police raising funds to help family of blind boy who was beaten to death
Please help the Delancy family