Category: Age Categories

Courtney Liltz

Photo of Courtney Liltz, a young woman with short, curly brown hair and fair skin. She wears a Christmas sweater. Name: Courtney Liltz.
Died: June 5, 2015.
Age at death: 28.
Cause of death: Poisoning.
Location: Rolling Meadows, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
As a baby, Courtney was put up for adoption, but her first adoptive placement failed, and instead she had to live in an institution for people with developmental disabilities. At five, she was adopted.

Courtney was a fan of Sesame Street‘s Ernie. She liked going to school and using the computers there.

Courtney’s adoptive mother poisoned her with an overdose of drugs. She died in the hospital nine days later.

The case was used as precedent for the trial of the killers of Alex Spourdalakis, who were both sentenced to four years and released on time served.

Case status:
Bonnie Liltz (Adoptive mother), pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to four years in prison, served 72 days before being released pending appeal; appeal rejected; died by suicide.

Source:
Illinois mom accused of killing daughter gets support
Friends support Schaumburg mom charged with disabled daughter’s death
Schaumburg Woman’s Sentence being determined in Daughter’s Death
Schaumburg mom gets four years in prison for killing disabled daughter
Schaumburg mom out on bond after serving 72 days for killing disabled daughter
Mother, godmother who killed autistic teen released from prison
Court Rules Against Bonnie Liltz During Appeal
Schaumburg mother ordered back to prison for disabled daughter’s death
Mom gets prison for killing disabled daughter
Mom Who Killed Disabled Daughter Loses Appeal To Drop 4-Year Sentence
Schaumburg woman who killed disabled daughter faces possible return to prison
Schaumburg mom appeals manslaughter sentence to state supreme court
4-year sentence stands for Schaumburg mom who killed disabled daughter
Bonnie Liltz on killing her daughter: ‘She stayed asleep’
Bonnie Liltz hopes Illinois governor will grant her clemency
Bonnie Liltz, woman who killed disabled daughter, commits suicide
Woman who killed disabled daughter found dead 2 days before prison stint was to begin
Schaumburg mom who killed disabled daughter found dead

David Matwiju

Photo of a man with fair skin and shaggy brown hair and beard. His eyes are wide open, giving him a wild look.Name: David Lee Matwiju Sr.
Died: June 3, 2015.
Age at death: 64.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Springfield Township, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Stroke, kidney disease, alcoholism.

Details:
David starved to death while in the care of his wife.

Mr. Matwiju was a US military veteran whose alcoholism began after his return from Vietnam.

Case status:
Dorothy Matwiju (Wife), convicted of failing to provide for a functionally impaired person, sentenced to 1 year probation.

Source:
Springfield Township wife sentenced for neglecting ailing husband, who later died
Springfield Township Police: Wife charged after husband found starved to death
Springfield Township woman’s lack of care contributed to husband’s death, police say

Gracie Buss

Photo of Gracie Buss, a small girl with fair skin, dark brown eyes, and black hair. She is smiling.Name: Gracie Buss.
Died: June 3, 2015.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Waterloo, Iowa, USA.
Disability: Epilepsy.

Details:
When her boyfriend beat little Gracie Buss to death, Gracie’s mother told the police that Gracie’s seizures had made her fall down the stairs.

Case status:
Chad Little (Mother’s boyfriend), convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to life.
Kristi Buss (Mother), pleaded guilty to neglecting a dependent person, child neglect resulting in serious injury and involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 25 years.

Source:
Iowa crime: Waterloo woman pleads guilty in 4-year-old daughter’s death
No bond reduction for mom held in child death case
Waterloo man charged with death of 4-year-old girl
What happened to Gracie Buss?
Gracie Buss’s family searching for answers one month later
Defense begins in child death trial

Aiden Archer

Photo of Aidan Archer, a toddler with blue eyes and blond hair.Name: Aiden Archer.
Died: June 1, 2015
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Head trauma.
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Aiden was beaten to death by his mother’s boyfriend.

Case status:
Maurice Snyder (Mother’s boyfriend), pleaded no contest to second-degree reckless homicide and three counts of physical abuse of a child, sentenced to 24 years.
Megan Scott (Mother), charged with failure to act to prevent bodily harm to a child; died before trial.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Aidan Archer
Maurice Snyder Jr. now faces homicide charge in death of three-year-old Aiden Archer
Charged: Two accused in connection with death of three-year-old Aiden Archer
Vigil honors life of 3-year-old Milwaukee boy
Maurice Snyder sentenced to 24 years in prison for murder of 3-year-old Aiden Archer

Abigail Cozad

Photo of Abigail Cozad. She is a young woman with fair skin and long straight brown hair; she has a pair of glasses pushed up on top of her head.Name: Abigail Cozad.
Died: June 1, 2015.
Age at death: 31.
Cause of death: Blunt force head and neck injury.
Location: Kusa, Colorado, USA.
Disability: TBI from car accident.

Details:
Abigail was beaten to death by her boyfriend.

Abigail loved pottery, photography, and painting, and wanted to be an interior designer or graphic designer.

Case status:
Emiliano Urioste (Boyfriend), convicted of first-degree murder and robbery, sentenced to life without parole.

Source:
Man gets life in prison for motel murder
Obituary for Abigail Ann Cozad at Kibbey-Fishburn Funeral Home & Crematory

Leon Jayet-Cole

Photo of a toddler with white-blond hair and pink skin; he is wearing an orange T-shirt and smiling for the camera.Name: Leon Jayet-Cole.
Died: May 28, 2015.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Head injury due to blunt-force trauma.
Location: Papanui, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Leon was a “beautiful, happy-spirited kid” who made his family laugh with the quirky things he said. He had learned to speak and learned to read when he was four, and at five years old was enrolled in school. His obituary calls him the “chief mischief maker of his brothers and sisters Lucas, Nadia, Anabelle, Fabian, and Liam; Giane, Daniel and James.” He loved pillow-fighting and riding his tricycle. He had to have his toast cut just right, or he wouldn’t eat it. His favorite movie was Frozen.

He hadn’t spoken until he was four, but then he started speaking, reading, and doing math all at once. Leon was a bookworm who would start reading the moment he woke. When they saw how fast he was learning, his family began calling him “Superman”. He loved school, which he attended for half-days, and Dr. Seuss was his favorite author. He had a brother who was also autistic.

Leon’s stepfather allegedly beat him to the point that he suffered a severe head injury; despite the head injury, no one sought medical care for him right away. Leon survived on life support in the hospital for two days before he died. His organs were transplanted and have saved the lives of five people.

Leon may have been abused regularly for some time; he and his older brother had both been treated for head injuries at the hospital, but they had all been written off as accidental.

Case Status:
James Stedman Roberts (Stepfather), charged with murder, committed suicide while out on bail.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Leon Jayet-Cole
Coroner: Agencies missed red flags before autistic Christchurch boy Leon Jayet-Cole’s death
Stepfather hit 5-year-old ‘four times a week’, but mum saw nothing
Police could have done more to stop violent stepfather
Christchurch schoolboy Leon Jayet-Cole hospitalised with head injury months before death
Concerns raised with CYF before Leon Jayet-Cole’s death
File shows tragedy of Leon Jayet-Cole unfolding
Funeral for man accused of killing autistic boy
Leon Jayet-Cole, the little New Zealand boy whose gravestone has his murderer’s name on it
Man accused of killing child found dead
Man accused of murdering autistic boy found dead
Warning signs in CYF reports before Leon Jayet-Cole’s alleged murder
Inquest into death of Leon Jayet-Cole, 5, hears from step-dad who died awaiting murder trial
Mother accepts dead husband killed autistic son

Thenmozhi, Vasanthi, and Vasantha Kumar

No PhotoName: Thenmozhi.
Age at death: 18.
Disability: Malaikan (night blindness).

Name: Vasanthi.
Age at death: 16.
Disability: Mental illness; unspecified physical disability.

Name: Vasantha Kumar.
Age at death: 14.
Disability: Unspecified physical disability.

Died: May 27, 2015.
Cause of death: Poisoning.
Location: Markandeyapuram, Dindigul, India.

Details:
Sisters Thenmozhi and Vasanthi, and their brother Vasantha, were poisoned by their parents in a murder-suicide.

Case status:
Murugesan (Father), deceased.
Krishnaveni (Mother), deceased.

Source:
Dejected Couple Kill 3 Disabled Wards, Commit Suicide
Couple kill 3 children, hang themselves
Upset Couple Poisons 3 Ailing Kids to Death, Hang Selves
Couple poison to death 3 children, end lives

Dorothy Berry

No PhotoName: Dorothy Berry.
Died: May 24, 2015.
Age at death: 77.
Cause of death: Malnutrition, sepsis.
Location: Merritt Island, Florida, USA.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Dorothy’s son and daughter neglected her, keeping her on a wooden bench in the living room and not feeding or cleaning her. She died from malnutrition and infected bedsores.

Case status:
George Mack Berry Jr. (Son), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 5 years probation.
and Susan Dawn Berry (Daughter), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Source:
Supervised Population Information Detail
Inmate Population Information Detail
Merritt Island siblings fight charges in mom’s death

Thembisile Dlamini

No PhotoName: Thembisile Dlamini.
Died: May 23, 2015.
Age at death: 58.
Cause of death: Gunshot, fire.
Location: Amatikwe, Inanda, South Africa.
Disability: Diabetes, leg amputee, blind.

Details:
Thembisile was the caregiver for three of her grandchildren as well as three foster children.

Her granddaughter’s ex, had kidnapped one of the children, and her granddaughter called the police. When he found out, he attacked the family at their home. Two other women managed to escape out of the windows, but Thembisile could not escape, so she began yelling for help. Her grandson-in-law shot her in the mouth to silence her, then set the house on fire.

Thembisile’s family survived the incident, though they had to live with a neighbor for a year to get back on their feet.

Case status:
Bheki Khumalo (Grandson-in-law), sentenced to 20 years for murder and 10 years for arson.

Source:
KZN man given 30 year jail term for killing blind ‘defenseless’ elderly woman
Justice for blind, diabetic, amputee KZN gran who was shot in mouth by grandson-in-law

Fardeen Khan

Photo of Fardeen Khan, a little boy sitting on a chair; he has tan skin and black hair and is wearing a white tank top and shorts.Name: Fardeen Khan.
Died: May 17, 2015.
Age at death: 8.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Chandni Mahal, central Delhi, India.
Disability: Unspecified.

Details:
Fardeen’s mother came home to find him gone, and her husband would not tell him where he was. She called police, who say Fardeen’s father confessed to bludgeoning him to death.

Fardeen’s disability is unknown, but it may be cerebral palsy, from a fall to the floor as a baby.

Case status:
Nazar Khan (Father), charged with murder.

Source:
Man kills disabled son