Age Categories – Page 100 – Disability Day of Mourning

Henrietta Belcher

Name: Henrietta “Retta” Green Belcher.
Died: November 5, 2016; bodies found November 15, 2016.
Age at death: 69.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Inman, South Carolina, USA.
Disability: Stroke; communication impaired; chronic illness.

Details:
Retta was a homemaker whose husband William “Eddie” Belcher, an associate pastor, had retired to care for her after she had a stroke. The couple had five children and fourteen grandchildren.

Eddie and Retta were shot to death by their son, their bodies left in the house for ten days until a relative called police to ask for a welfare check.

Their killer claims that he shot his parents because his father asked him to do it. Whether or not Eddie Belcher asked to be killed, Retta Belcher, unable to communicate because of her stroke, could not have made such a request for herself.

Case status:
Stephen Linwood Belcher (son), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Source:
Boiling Springs man pleads guilty in ‘merciful’ killing of parents
Attorney: Stephen Belcher’s parents asked son to kill them
Community ‘shocked’ at son confessing to parents’ murders
Community ‘shocked’ at son confessing to killing parents
Deputies arrest son in parents’ killing after wife calls 911
Deputies: Son confessed to murdering parents in SC
Eddie and Rhetta Belcher’s Obituary
Lawyers: Spartanburg Parents Pleaded with Son to Kill Them
Laywer: Upstate murder suspect was asked to kill parents in poor health
Man confesses to killing parents, directs deputies to bodies, authorities say
SC Deputies: Son confessed to murdering parents
SC man charged with killing his parents
Sheriff’s Office: Man, 38, confesses to killing parents
Son confessed to murdering parents in Inman say Spartanburg Co. deputies
South Carolina deputies investigating after son admits to killing parents
South Carolina father begged son to shoot him, attorney says
South Carolina man who shot dead his parents claims his father begged him to shoot them

Tyler Caudill

Photo of Tyler Caudill, a young boy with fair skin and brown hair. He has a wide smile. He is wearing a magenta T-shirt. Name: Tyler Joseph “TJ” Caudill.
Died: Late August 2016; body found November 13, 2016.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Malnutrition.
Location: Portsmouth, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
TJ was abused and starved by his mother and her boyfriend; then he went missing. His body has been found, and his mother and her boyfriend charged with murder when it was found that TJ’s death was a homicide. He had been abused, forced to stand and walk for hours at a time, locked in a bathroom, and starved to death.

Case status:
Margarita L. White (Mother), pleaded guilty to murder and child endangerment, sentenced to 18 years to life.
Douglas Lee Hunt (Mother’s boyfriend), convicted of aggravated murder, child endangerment, torture, abuse, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse, sentenced to life without parole.

Source:
UPDATE: Mother, Boyfriend charged in death of 6-year-old boy
Mother, Boyfriend Arrested in 6 Year Old Boy’s Death
Portsmouth Police find body amidst search for missing 6-year-old
Scioto grand jury indicts couple in death of autistic boy
Appeals court upholds conviction/sentence

Sue Liner

Name: Sue Kelley Liner.
Died: November 13, 2016.
Age at death: 84.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Cleveland, Tennessee, USA.
Disability: Chronic illness.

Details:
Sue was shot by her husband in a murder-suicide.

She had a son and two grandchildren.

Case status:
Max Liner (Husband), deceased.

Source:
Cleveland police: Fatal shooting of elderly couple appears to be murder-suicide
CPD suspects murder-suicide in couple’s death
Incident 11-13-2016 Tennessee Cleveland 1-1
Liner, Max (Cleveland)
In Memory of Sue Kelley Liner
Sue Liner Obituary

Susann Sills

Name: Susann Stephanie Arsuaga Sills.
Died: November 13, 2016.
Age at death: 58.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: San Clemente, California, USA.
Disability: Migraines.

Details:
Susann’s husband beat her up, then strangled her to death. At trial, the defense claimed that she fell down the stairs because of her migraines.

Case Status:
Eric Scott Sills (Husband), convicted of second-degree murder.

Sources:
Fertility Doctor Convicted of Killing Wife in San Clemente
Jurors to Deliberate Fate of Doctor Accused of Killing Wife in San Clemente

Isaac Ward

Name: Isaac Ward, also known as Isaac Ward Martinez.
Died: November 11, 2016.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Fatal abuse.
Location: Forks, Washington, USA.
Disability: Developmental delay, mobility impaired.

Details:
The mother of Isaac’s foster mother, who was taking care of him while his foster mother was at work, pushed him so hard into the furniture that he suffered a massive head injury and died. An autopsy revealed that he had been subjected to abuse and neglect for at least two months, and his foster mother had done nothing to help him.

Case status:
Ramona Ward (Foster grandmother, related to Isaac), pleaded guilty to homicide by abuse, sentenced to 26 1/2 years.
Michelle A. Ward (Foster mother, related to Isaac, mandatory reporter), pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal mistreatment, sentenced to 2 year community corrections and 6 months of alcohol/drug treatment.

Source:
Ramona Ward sentenced to 26½ years in prison in boy’s killing
April trial date set in death of Forks toddler
Forks woman arrested in toddler’s death
Joint trial mulled in 2-year-old’s death in Forks
Mom, Daughter May Be Tried Together in Forks Boy’s Death
Trial delayed for suspect accused of killing Forks toddler

Faith Wilson

Name: Faith Wilson.
Died: November 11, 2016.
Age at death: 10 months.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Clay, New York, USA.
Disability: Congenital heart disease.

Details:
Ten-month-old Faith was killed by her father when he struck her head deliberately against the changing table. He and his wife waited a day before taking her to the hospital. She died of head injuries.

Case status:
Brian Wilson (Father), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 19-23 years.
Stephanie Heppler (Mother), pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child; conditional discharge.

Source:
Town of Clay man sentenced to 23 years in prison for the death of his daughter
Clay dad: I killed disabled daughter by shaking and hitting her head on changing table
Clay dad charged with manslaughter in baby’s death, mother faces lesser charge
Deputies: 9-month-old girl, allegedly injured by Clay father, has died

Rebecka Pearce

Name: Rebecka Jeanann Pearce.
Died: November 11, 2016.
Age at death: 30.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, USA.
Disability: Bipolar disorder, anxiety.

Details:
Rebecka and her husband were in the process of getting a divorce, and Rebecka was staying at her parents’ house. Her husband, a sheriff’s deputy, had filed a protective order against her, claiming that her bipolar disorder made her dangerous to her children.

Rebecka’s ex-husband broke into her parents’ home and shot her, then killed himself. Her two young daughters were in the house at the time; they are unhurt, and are now staying with family.

Rebecka was a hairstylist.

Case status:
Jeremy Pearce (Ex-husband), deceased.

Source:
Rebecka J. Pearce, age 30
Marital discord preceded apparent murder-suicide of Granville sheriff’s deputy and his wife
Sheriff’s deputy, wife shot dead at Fuquay-Varina home

Sharon Greenop

Photo of Sharon Greenop, a middle-aged woman with short brown hair, photographed outdoors. The camera seems to have caught her off guard, since she has her eyes closed mid-blink. Name: Sharon Greenop.
Died: Months before November 10, 2016.
Age at death: 46.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland.
Disability: Prolapsed disc; mobility impaired.

Details:
Exactly how Sharon died was initially unknown because, when she died, her family left her body in her room for several months while they pretended on social media that she was still alive.

A year before Sharon died, they had fired her aide. Sharon became increasingly isolated and was mistreated and neglected by her family. They even threw away the table that she used to do jigsaw puzzles on.

Police labeled Sharon’s death “suspicious” and investigated for some weeks before eventually arresting her sister for beating Sharon, then refusing to get her treatment for the injuries that ultimately proved fatal.

Before her disability, Sharon had worked at a bakery.

Case status:
Lynnette Greenop (sister), convicted of murder, sentenced to 23 years.
Shayla Greenop (Daughter), charged with murder, acquitted.

Source:
Social workers could have prevented abuse of Troon murder victim Sharon Greenop
Disabled Ayrshire mum ‘murdered by sister after social workers abandoned her’
House of horrors: Disabled mum may have been dead in bedroom for months
Mum laid dead in bedroom for months in house full of tarantulas, rats, a blind cat and three-legged sheep dog
Woman may have lain dead in Troon home for months
Body of mum was found when neighbours noticed smell and fly infestation
Body of Ayrshire mum may have lain dead in her bedroom for months while family continued living there
Sharon Greenop ‘lay dead in house full of flies for FIVE MONTHS’
Woman ‘lay dead for WEEKS’ as daughter and sister carried on as normal
Police confirm death of Troon mum found in bedroom treated as ‘suspicious’
Funeral to be held for disabled mum who was found decomposing in Troon
Sister of Sharon Greenop whose body was discovered in her Troon house appears in court charged with murder
Murder trial: ‘Family used candles to hide body smell’
Sister and daughter of disabled Troon mum Sharon Greenop on trial for murder
‘Murder victim’ spotted with black eye
‘Fear factor’ when sister moved in
Disabled woman’s sister guilty of murder as daughter is cleared
Jailed: Callous killer who left sister to die in agony

Robert Wellburn

No Photo Name: Robert Wellburn.
Died: November 8, 2016.
Age at death: 72.
Cause of death: Pneumonia.
Location: North Shields, England, UK.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Robert lived in his home, and his son was supposed to visit and help him. But his son stopped visiting often enough, and eventually simply left him locked into his own unheated home without enough medication or food. When he was found, Robert was starving. He died of pneumonia a few weeks later.

Case status:
Robert Wellburn Jr. (Son), pleaded guilty to gross negligence manslaughter, sentenced to four years in prison.

Source:
Son jailed for manslaughter of his dementia-suffering dad by abandoning him
Dementia sufferer died ‘like prisoner in his own home’ after heartless son locked him in without a key

Andrea Spina

No Photo Name: Andrea Spina.
Died: November 7, 2016.
Age at death: 22.
Cause of death: Murder.
Location: Vespolate, Novara, Italy.
Disability: Autism, epilepsy.

Details:
Andrea’s father took him out of the institution where he lived; then, when Andrea was asleep, his father strangled him.

Case status:
Pietro Spina (Father), charged with murder, acquitted by reason of insanity.

Source:
Prosciolto Pietro Spina, l’uomo che uccise il figlio autistico e poi tentò il suicidio
Man kills disabled son, attempts suicide
The family drama in Vespolate: father kills disabled child and attempted suicide
Novara: uccide figlio disabile e tenta suicidio: padre ricoverato in ospedale
Novara, 52enne soffoca il figlio 20enne disabile e tenta il suicidio
“Non può restare solo” e disperato prende una sconcertante decisione
Vespolate, uccide il figlio disabile e tenta il suicidio
Uccide il figlio disabile e tenta il suicidio. Temeva che sarebbe rimasto da solo
Vespolate, padre uccide il figlio disabile e poi tenta il suicidio
Dramma a Vespolate: “Non riusciamo a darci spiegazioni del gesto di Pietro”
Il dramma di Vespolate: “Pietro voleva farla finita, ma nessuno immaginava uccidesse il figlio”