Age Categories – Page 114 – Disability Day of Mourning

Jeffrey Rak

No Photo Name: Jeffrey Alan Rak.
Died: February 14, 2016.
Age at death: 58.
Cause of death: Trauma in the setting of chronic illness.
Location: Burlington Township, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Alcoholism, epilepsy, COPD, heart disease, cirrhosis, chronic illness.

Details:
Jeffrey’s son hit him in the face; soon thereafter, he died.

Case status:
Daniel Rak (Son), acquitted of murder but convicted of aggravated domestic battery, sentenced to 4 years probation.

Source:
People v. Rak
Burlington Twp. man acquitted of murder gets probation for domestic battery
Attorney: Light ‘bop’ from son didn’t kill Burlington Township man
JEFFREY ALAN RAK DVM’s Memoriam on Daily Herald
Elburn man charged with father’s murder wants statements banned from trial
Prosecutors: Burlington murder suspect’s statements were voluntary
Man charged with killing his father in Burlington Township
Police: Signs of struggle at scene of Burlington Township death

Carolyn Taurino

No Photo Name: Carolyn Marie Taurino.
Died: February 10, 2016.
Age at death: 57.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Kershaw, South Carolina, USA.
Disability: Amputee, wheelchair user.

Details:
Carolyn’s son is accused of shooting her to death.

Case status:
Robert Allen Hypes (Son), charged with murder.

Source:
Carolyn Marie Taurino, age 57
Man charged in mom’s murder
Man charged with killing wheelchair-bound mother in Lancaster Co.
Man Charged with Murder of Mom Who Used Wheelchair
South Carolina man accused of shooting, killing his wheelchair-bound mother

Holli Jeffcoat

Name: Holli Jeffcoat.
Died: February 10, 2016.
Age at death: 18.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Idalou, Texas, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Holli told someone at school that she had been sexually abused and was pregnant, and named her stepfather as the person responsible. Holli had reported sexual abuse once before at age 10, but since then her mother, who knew about the abuse, had instructed her not to tell anyone about it because her abuser was financially supporting the family.

A week after she reported the abuse, Holli was found stabbed to death in her home; someone had removed her uterus, then set a fire to try to cover up the crime.

Holli loved pep rallies. She played baseball and ran track in the Special Olympics and worked as an office aide at her school.

Case status:
James Bryant Holland (Stepfather), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to life without parole.
Deborah Holland (mother), pleaded guilty to injury to a child, elder, or disabled person, sentenced to 15 years.

Source:
Mother sentenced to 15 years in connection to brutal murder of Holli Jeffcoat
Debi Holland, once charged for capital murder of her own daughter, pleads to lesser charge
Texas couple indicted in murder of woman’s pregnant teen daughter
Murdered Teen Was Found With Uterus Cut Out
Child Protective Services aiding in Lubbock sheriff’s homicide investigation
Search warrant: Homicide victim accused family member of sexual abuse a week before killing
Report: Murdered Idalou Teen Was Pregnant by Family Member, Mother Knew About Sexual Abuse
Nearly Two Months After Holli Jeffcoat’s Murder School Staff Share Memories, Hopes for Justice
Lubbock medical examiner releases cause of death in Jeffcoat case
Police arrest stepfather of slain 18-year-old special needs student
Family says Holli Jeffcoat ‘deserves justice’ after stepfather arrest
Holli Jeffcoat’s Grandmother Defends Mother, Says Murderer Must Pay Consequences
Texas man gets life sentence for murdering pregnant, mentally disabled stepdaughter
Mother still awaiting trial, 3 years after Holli Jeffcoat murder

Ethan Okula

Name: Ethan Okula.
Died: February 10, 2016.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Bowel obstruction.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability, hearing impaired, vision impaired, chronic illness including a bowel condition.

Details:
Ethan was at school when he began to experience severe stomach pain, so the school sent him home to his foster parents, recommending they take him to the hospital. But instead of getting him medical attention, they put him on the couch and left him there until he stopped breathing. When emergency services were finally called, he was dead from an untreated bowel obstruction.

Case status:
Denise Alston (Foster mother), pleaded guilty to tampering with public documents, sentenced to 3 years probation.
Carol Fletcher (Foster mother), pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child, sentenced to 8 months time served and probation.

Source:
A 10-year-old’s wholly preventable death
Finally, after two years, criminal charges in a child’s heartbreaking death
Couple who left 10-year-old foster kid dying on couch charged
Ethan Okula’s foster mother was sentenced in his tragic death. So many more are to blame
Finally, after two years, criminal charges in a child’s heartbreaking death

Rebecca Cutler

Name: Rebecca Cutler.
Died: February 10, 2016.
Age at death: 26.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Willowbrook, New York, USA.
Disability: Bipolar disorder, postpartum depression.

Details:
Rebecca and her three children were stabbed by her boyfriend. Rebecca and her two children, Maiyah and Ziana, died; her third child survived. Her boyfriend tried to claim that because she was bipolar, Rebecca had killed her children and he killed her in self-defense.

Case status:
Michael Sykes (Boyfriend), convicted of second-degree murder of Rebecca Cutler and first-degree murder of Maiyah and Ziana; sentenced to life without parole.

Source:
Monster who murdered two babies and their mom in Staten Island Ramada Inn massacre gets life without parole – New York Daily News
Mom killed the 2 kids, not me, testifies defendant in Ramada Inn massacre
Jury selected in hotel massacre murder trial
Man stabbed girlfriend, babies 69 times in S.I. slays: DA
Staten Island stabbing suspect arraigned on 3 counts of murder
Man Convicted of Killing Girlfriend in Hotel Room, But Not Her 2 Kids
Wake To Be Held For Mother, Children Killed In Staten Island Stabbing
New trial, new lawyer for defendant in Ramada Inn massacre

Daniel Joost

Photo of Daniel Joost, a teenage boy with fair skin and short light-brown, wavy hair. He is wearing dark-rimmed glasses and a dress shirt. Photographed outdoors, he squints into the sun. Name: Daniel Joost.
Died: February 8, 2016.
Age at death: 18.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Daniel and his mother, 55-year-old Margaret O’Leary-Joost, were strangled to death by Daniel’s father, who then took his own life.

Case status:
David Joost (Father), deceased.

Source:
Parents and Teen-Aged Son Dead in Oak Forest Double Murder-Suicide
‘Oh God, We Better Call’: 911 Call in Oak Forest Double Murder-Suicide
Support for Katie Joost
Autism Memorial: Daniel Joost

Ezra Miller

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

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

Eunice Phiri

No Photo Name: Eunice Phiri.
Died: January 28, 2016.
Age at death: 53.
Cause of death: Blood loss.
Location: Kasungu National Park, Malawi.
Disability: Albinism.

Details:
Eunice’s brother lured her and her 8-year-old son, who also has albinism, out of her home and into a nearby national park. There, they killed her by cutting off her arms. Her 8-year-old son escaped and found his way back home.

Case status:
Msasauko Phiri (Brother), and two others, under investigation.

Source:
Woman with albinism killed in Malawi: no isolated incident
Albino woman murdered in Kasungu: Malawi Police hunt for killers
Malawi: Ritual murders of people with albinism must end

Digby Dowdle

Name: Digby Dowdle.
Died: January 23, 2016.
Age at death: 26.
Cause of death: Poisoning, asphyxiation.
Location: Wadalba, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: TBI due to car accident.

Details:
Digby’s mother sedated him and then suffocated him with a plastic bag.

Digby was often seen walking his greyhound Lucy.

Case Status:
Susan Marie Dowdle (Mother), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 2 years; released on time served.

Sources:
CENTRAL COAST MOTHER WHO KILLED SON RELEASED FROM PRISON | NBN News
In loving Memory Of my friend Digby Dowdle 1989 – 2016
’Kind’ mum charged with son’s murder
Digby Dowdle (26) Allegedly suffocated by his mother
R v Susan Dowdle