Category: Age Categories

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

George Philip Carter

No PhotoName: George Philip Carter.
Died: May 15, 2015.
Age at death: 59.
Cause of death: Sepsis.
Location: Spanaway, Washington, USA.
Disability: Autism, developmental disability.

Details:
Philip’s caregiver neglected him; he died of infected bedsores because instead of taking him to a doctor, his caregiver stuffed the bedsores with paper towels.

Case status:
Larry John Lee (Unlicensed caregiver), convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced to 18 years.

Source:
Caregiver charged with murder in neglect of vulnerable adult
Caretaker sentenced to 18 years for ‘murder by neglect’
Jury finds Spanaway man guilty in death of adult he cared for
Autism Memorial: George Philip Carter

Louis Spires

No PhotoName: Louis Spires.
Died: May 15, 2015.
Age at death: 68.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: Louth, England, UK.
Disability: Alcoholic, visually impaired, mobility impaired.

Details:
Louis’s partner smothered him by putting a pillow over his face and sitting on it.

Case status:
Lynn Stallard (Partner, caretaker), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 12 years to life.

Source:
Pensioner who murdered her housebound and disabled partner by putting a pillow on his head and SITTING on it faces life in jail

Martin Duram

Photo of Martin Duram. He is a light-skinned man with dark hair and mustache, wearing a silver suit and tie.Name: Martin Duram.
Died: May 13, 2015.
Age at death: 46.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Sand Lake, Michigan, USA.
Disability: TBI.

Details:
Martin was found in his bed, shot five times, with his wife, who was barely alive and had a single gunshot wound, nearby. On a table was a suicide letter written by his wife.

After taking in Martin’s African gray parrot, Bud, Martin’s family heard the parrot mimicking the sounds of an intense argument, and then of Martin asking somebody not to shoot. With the parrot raising suspicion, an investigation was conducted and Martin’s wife was convicted of murder.

Case status:
Glenna Duram (Wife), convicted of murder, sentenced to life without parole.

Source:
Woman Gets Life Sentence For Murder Witnessed By Pet Parrot
Wife sentenced to life in husband’s murder
Winged murder witness: ‘Don’t f—ing shoot’
Parrot Witnessed Michigan Man’s Murder, Parents Believe
8 months after husband was fatally shot and wife injured, police still trying to solve puzzle
Death of Sand Lake area man investigated as homicide, wife remains hospitalized
Jury Convicts Woman of Husband’s Murder After Pet Parrot Recalls Voice Screaming ‘Don’t Shoot’
Parrot Witnesses Murder, Michigan Woman Convicted

Jody Hernandez

Photo of Jody Hernandez. She has fair skin and long wavy dark-brown hair.Name: Jody Hernandez.
Died: May 11, 2015.
Age at death: 31.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: San Antonio, Texas, USA.
Disability: Chronic illness, including Crohn’s disease; depression.

Details:
Jody was shot and killed by her husband, who said that it had been an assisted suicide and that Jody had wanted to die. His lawyer arranged a plea bargain when it was found that Jody had, on a crowdfunding web page, detailed her illness. Though she didn’t express any desire to commit suicide on the web page, it corroborated her husband’s story that she had been ill. The judge accepted the plea bargain and Jody’s husband walked free on probation.

Jody’s goal for her crowdfunding page was to get enough money to go back to school and get her master’s degree to become a nurse-practitioner.

Case status:
Daniel Hernandez (Husband), pleaded guilty to assisted suicide, sentenced to 5 years probation and a $1500 fine.

Source:
DA reveals reason to drop murder charge in assisted suicide case
Man gets five years probation for killing his wife
Jody Hernandez | Help Jody with her illnesses, return home, sort out family problems and return to school
Woman allegedly shot by husband may have detailed illnesses…
Woman fatally shot by husband identified