Age Categories – Page 141 – Disability Day of Mourning

Gabriel McFarland

Name: Gabriel McFarland.
Died: April 22, 2014.
Age at death: 4 months.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Des Moines, Iowa, USA.
Disability: Deaf in one ear.

Details:
Gabriel’s birth parents were teenagers who decided to give him up for adoption. In an open adoption, they chose Rachel and Heidi McFarland to be Gabriel’s adoptive mothers. The McFarlands were there at Gabriel’s birth to cut the cord and take him home from the hospital. When they found out that Gabriel was deaf in one ear, they began learning sign language.

But Gabriel’s birth parents had never completely signed away their parental rights, and when Gabriel was a few months old, his birth mother decided not to go through with the adoption and took him back. Five weeks later, she left him alone with his birth father, who shook and beat Gabriel until he died from severe head injuries.

Case status:
Drew James Weehler-Smith (Birth father), convicted of murder, sentenced to 17 to 50 years and a $150,000 fine.

Source:
ADOPTION TWIST: Three Mothers Mourn Baby’s Death
Iowa couple win $3.25m after adopted baby killed by dad
Couple Wins $3.25 Million After Adopted Baby Was Reclaimed By Birth Parents And Killed By Father

Caitlin Wentzel

Photo of a young girl sitting in a wheelchair; she has curly blond hair, fair skin, and glasses, and she is wearing a brown T-shirt. Name: Caitlin Wentzel.
Died: April 21, 2014.
Age at death: 12.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: Mesa, Arizona, USA.
Disability: Osteogenesis imperfecta.

Details:
Caitlin’s mother poisoned her, then smothered her to death, before killing herself.

Caitlin enjoyed learning about cultures, reading, art and swimming. She was a proficient reader who read above her grade level.

Case status:
Marcia Wentzel (Mother), deceased.

Source:
Mother ‘overdosed and smothered’ her wheelchair-bound daughter, 12, who was suffering from a rare genetic disorder before ending her own life in murder-suicide
Marcia & Caitlin Wentzel Obituary – Mesa, AZ

Otto Smith

Photo of Otto Smith, a teenage boy in a red jacket. He has fair skin, and his brown hair is in a crew cut. He has a wispy mustache. There is water in the background. Name: Otto Smith.
Died: April 13, 2014.
Age at death: 18.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Auburn, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
After long-term severe abuse, Otto’s mother’s boyfriend restrained and smothered him. Despite witnessing months of abuse that nearly killed Otto and his brother several times, his mother did nothing to help.

Otto liked to watch The Lion King, and his favorite toy was a musical keyboard. His younger brother, who survived abuse for several months after Otto died, went on to testify in his murder trial. He is now safe, living with his grandparents.

Case status:
Matthew Christenson (Mother’s boyfriend); convicted of second-degree murder, homicide by abuse, felony harassment, sentenced to 65 years.
Pascia Backman (Mother), pleaded guilty to helping cover up the murder, ordered to mental health and drug treatment.

Source:
Man awaits resentencing for abusing autistic victim to death in Auburn
Autism Memorial: Otto Smith
Trial considers whether man killed, tortured girlfriend’s sons
Mom: Beau’s love left me ‘euphoric,’ then he killed my son
Brother of slain autistic teen: Abuse rendered me ‘hopeless’
Boyfriend found guilty of murdering woman’s autistic son
65 years for Auburn man in death of girlfriend’s autistic son he bound and gagged

Baby Boy

No Photo Name Unknown.
Died: April 9, 2014.
Age at death: 5 months.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Connsbrook Avenue, East Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
Disability: None.

Details:
There was no objective evidence that this little boy was disabled, but his mother thought he would be disabled because her older son’s autism meant she had “passed on bad genes”. Sure that the baby boy would grow up to be disabled, she suffocated him.

Case status:
His mother was sentenced to three years of probation.

Source:
Mum who killed baby son freed on probation
Belfast Crown Court told details of mother’s admission to killing her child
Tears in court as details emerge of how Belfast mother killed five-month-old son
Belfast mum cries as she reveals why she killed her baby son
Woman who killed her baby son is freed on probation
Police still questioning mum about bid to smother baby
Autism Memorial: 5-month-old boy

Marvell Patterson

No Photo Name: Marvell Patterson.
Died: April 6, 2014.
Age at death: 11 months.
Cause of death: Probable drowning (Body not found).
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Disability: Perceived disability.

Details:
Marvell’s mother killed him by drowning him in the bathtub. She told police that she didn’t think her son was normal because he refused to sit up and wasn’t walking, and that she couldn’t feel a connection to him.

His mother threw Marvell’s body into the trash; though police searched the landfill, it was never found.

Case status:
Joelle Briana Gaines, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter, sentenced to 4-10 years.

Source:
Woman pleads guilty in death of son whose body was never found
Las Vegas woman charged with killing her baby

Robert Robinson

Photo of a young man with light skin and curly brown hair, a thin beard and mustache, and brown eyes. He is wearing a black jacket over a white T-shirt. Trees can be seen in the background. Name: Robert Robinson.
Died: April 3, 2014.
Age at death: 16.
Cause of death: Tranquilizer poisoning.
Location: Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Robert was poisoned by his mother, who also took her own life.

Robbie and his mother liked to hike a trail by the ocean.

Case status:
Angie Robinson (Mother), deceased.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Robert Robinson
Prince Rupert RCMP confirm murder-suicide in Ebert Street deaths
Social services for families with autistic children called into question following murder-suicide involving mother and son
Murder-suicide of B.C. autistic teen by his mother reignites debate over caregiver support
Prince Rupert mom left murder-suicide note saying she could no longer care for severely autistic son

Daniel and Luke Schlemmer

Photo of Daniel Schlemmer, a young boy wearing glasses and a navy T-shirt with a name tag on it. He has short blond hair and fair skin. — Daniel Schlemmer

Name: Daniel Schlemmer.
Died: April 5, 2014.
Age at death: 6.

Name: Luke Schlemmer.
Died: April 1, 2014.
Age at death: 3.

Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: McCandless, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: None; mother believed they were autistic.

Photo of Luke Schlemmer, a toddler boy with fair skin and blond hair. He is sticking his tongue out and smiling. — Luke Schlemmer

Details:
Brothers Daniel and Luke were drowned in the bathtub by their mother, because she was convinced they were autistic and would be “better off in heaven”. Luke died right away; Daniel lingered on life support for a few days.

A year before, she had tried to kill them by tying them up with twine and running over them with her car several times trying to “end their suffering”. They were hospitalized with broken bones, but their mother claimed it had been an accident and no action was taken. A year later, the boys were dead.

Case status:
Laurel Michelle Schlemmer (Mother), plead guilty to third-degree murder, sentenced to 30-80 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Daniel and Luke Schlemmer
Psychiatrists say mom knew she was drowning kids
Tub-drowning suspect said she drove over her sons repeatedly a year earlier
Ability to premeditate argued with McCandless mom who drowned sons
Psychiatrists say McCandless mom is mentally ill, but knew she was killing her kids
Psychiatrists say mom understood she was killing kids in tub
Pressure drove ‘ideal, Christian’ mom to drown kids: witness
Psychiatrists testify in McCandless woman’s drowning trial
Husband: Tub drowning suspect said she drove over their sons
Laurel Schlemmer, Pa. mom, found guilty but mentally ill in child bathtub drownings
McCandless mother found guilty of drowning her two sons
North Hills mom found guilty of murdering 2 young sons
A mother’s belief her sons had disabilities led to their drowning deaths
Mother gets 30 to 80 years in sons’ bathtub drownings
Monster mum hearing ‘crazy voices’ drowned her two sons in the bath because she wrongly believed they had autism… now she’s jailed for 80 years
Monster mum drowned sons aged 3 and 6 in bathtub wrongly believing they had autism
McCandless woman who drowned two sons sentenced to 30 to 80 years in prison
Mom Sentenced For Drowning 2 Young Sons In Bathtub To Be A Better Mother To Other Son

Hannah Hoag

No Photo Name: Hannah Hoag.
Died: March 26, 2014.
Age at death: 18 months.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
Disability: Tumor in her trachea.

Details:
Because Hannah had a tumor in her trachea, she had a tube to keep her airway open, and had monitoring equipment to alert family if the tube became dislodged.

Hannah’s mother put her in her crib and turned off the monitoring equipment. The tube was pulled out–either by Hannah or by her mother–and Hannah suffocated.

Case status:
Rebecca Cotes (Adoptive mother), convicted of involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 4 1/2 months in jail.

Source:
Mom accused of manslaughter in toddler’s asphyxiation death wants test of medical equipment
Jury: Wyoming mother guilty in toddler’s death
Woman gets leniency for accidental death of child

Jonathan Samuel

No Photo Name: Jonathan Samuel.
Died: March 24, 2014.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, USA.
Disability: Down syndrome, autism.

Details:
Jonathan’s brother shot him with a shotgun, then killed him with a knife and a machete. He also killed Jonathan’s father, Eldon Samuel Jr.

Jonathan’s brother claimed that it was Jonathan’s autism that caused their father to become addicted to painkillers and hit him, and that that was why he killed his father and brother.

Case status:
Eldon Gale Samuel III (Brother); convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree murder, sentenced to 20 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Jonathan Samuel
Teen confesses to killing family using a machete, guns and knife
Judge in family deaths case says suspect, 14, cited brother’s autism
Coeur D’alene Double Killing Leaves Family Grieving
Jury hears more about brother who was killed
Idaho teen sentenced 20 years in deaths of father, brother

Liam Fee

Name: Liam Fee, a.k.a. Liam Johnson.
Died: March 22, 2014.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury to heart.
Location: Thornton, Fife, Scotland, UK.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Liam was beaten so badly by his mother and stepmother that his heart burst. They tried to blame his death on his seven-year-old brother, but were later charged with murder. It turned out that they had also abused Liam’s two older brothers, and probably intimidated one of them into falsely confessing to murder.

Case status:
Rachel Fee (Mother), convicted of murder, child abuse and neglect, sentenced to 23-and-a-half years to life.
Nyomi Fee (Stepmother), convicted of murder, child abuse and neglect, sentenced to 24 years.

Source:
Rachel Fee and Nyomi Fee jailed for life for the murder of tragic tot Liam Fee
Autism Memorial: Liam Fee
Mother and partner deny murdering Fife toddler Liam Fee
Lesbian partners found GUILTY of murdering 2-year-old boy subjected to ‘heartless cruelty’ before he died
Gateshead murder accused took toddler out of nursery after concerns raised by social services
New evidence of Liam Fee social work visit weeks before murder