Category: Age: Teen

Age 12-18

Christopher Melton

Photo of Christopher Melton, a young man in a homemade tie-dye T-shirt; he has dark-brown skin and short black hair and is smiling.Name: Christopher Melton.
Died: June 4, 2010.
Age at death: 18.
Cause of death: Carbon monoxide poisoning.
Location: Columbia, Maryland, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Christopher’s mother poisoned him and herself with carbon monoxide.

Case status:
Tracy Hawks (Mother), deceased.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Christopher Melton
Columbia, Maryland: Deaths of Tracy Hawks and Christopher Melton, mother and son, ruled murder-suicide
Deaths of mother and son remain a mystery
Columbia deaths of mom and son ruled murder-suicide

Leosha Barnett

Photo of Leosha Barnett, a young woman with brown skin and black hair pulled back from her face; she is smiling for the camera.Name: Leosha Barnett.
Died: May 21, 2010.
Age at death: 17.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Forth Worth, Texas, USA.
Disability: Epilepsy, intellectual disability.

Details:
Leosha was starved to death by her mother and sister.

Case status:
Tasca Kuniko Johnson (Mother), injury to a disabled person, 15 years.
Kyreshi Lynn Tara Stevenson (sister), injury to a disabled person, 5 years.

Source:
Fort Worth girl’s starvation death prompts arrests of her sister, mother
Charges in ‘starvation’ of Texas teen

Ajit Singh

Photo of Ajit Singh, a boy with tan skin and black hair, in a red hoodie.Name: Ajit Singh-Mahal.
Died: February 9, 2010.
Age at death: 12.
Cause of death: Multiple organ failure.
Location: London, England, UK.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Ajit’s mother, facing a social services investigation for neglect, forced him to drink bleach. He died of multiple organ failure.

Case status:
Satpal Kaur-Singh (Mother); pled guilty to manslaughter; sentenced to 7 years.

Source:
Mother kills autistic son by forcing him to drink bleach
Mother killed her autistic son, 12, by forcing him to drink bleach as she ‘feared that social services would take him away’
Woman jailed for killing autistic son, 12, with bleach
Autism Memorial: Ajit Singh

Kelsey Moore

No PhotoName: Kelsey Moore.
Died: December 13, 2009.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Carbon monoxide poisoning.
Location: Madison County, Kentucky, USA.
Disability: Angelman syndrome.

Details:
Kelsey’s father shut her in their garage and poisoned Kelsey and himself with carbon monoxide.

Kelsey liked music. Her favorite instrument was the trumpet.

Case status:
Richard Moore (Father), deceased.

Source:
Father let truck run to kill self, daughter

Fabian Duque

No PhotoName: Fabian Duque.
Died: November 9, 2009.
Age at death: 16.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Fabian was shot by his father.

Case status:
Segundo Duque (Father), deceased.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Fabian Duque
Report on the Fatality of Fabian Duque, Jr.
Segundo Duque shot his 16 year old autistic son in the head
Dad shoots and kills 16-year-old disabled son
Two Deaths, One Gun: Father Kills Autistic Son

Tony Khor

Somewhat blurry portrait photo of a young boy with dark hair and light skin, wearing a blazer and collared shirt.Name: Tony Khor.
Died: October 25, 2009.
Age at death: 15.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Mississauga, Canada.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Tony was strangled by his mother after an argument about whether to put him in residential care.

Case status:
Seow Cheng Sim (Mother); pled guilty to manslaughter; sentenced to 6-10 years. With credit for pre-trial custody, she served 2 more years before her release.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Tony Khor
Filicide: Boy with Autism Dead by Mother’s Hand
Mother charged with autistic son’s death
Mother Charged in Murder of Her Autistic Son

Clarissa Callow

Close-up photo of a teenage girl with fair skin, freckles, blue eyes, and brown wavy hair. She wears a piercing in the corner of her lip.Name: Clarissa “Sal” Callow.
Died: August 10, 2009.
Age at death: 17.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Stanthorpe, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Cystic fibrosis.

Details:
After Clarissa broke up with her boyfriend, he began stalking her. Two weeks after the breakup, he strangled her and left her for dead locked in a shed in a position that compressed her chest, causing her death.

Clarissa was a skilled archer who won several medals at the Queensland Archery Titles.

Case Status:
Bowan Taylor Wade (Ex-boyfriend), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 15 years to life; retrial ordered, declared guilty of manslaughter, sentenced to 4 years 6 months to 9 years in prison.

Sources:
R v Wade
Retrial over murder guilty plea
Teen’s killing will go to trial
Tributes flow for teen
Jury finds Wade guilty
Shock retrial in teen murder case

Peter Eitzen

No PhotoName: Peter Eitzen.
Died: July 26, 2009.
Age at death: 16.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Mount Barker, Australia.
Disability: Intellectual disabilty.

Details:
Peter was drugged and stabbed to death by his mother. She told the court that she had intended to kill them both with carbon monoxide in the car, but after she sedated her son, he woke up and struggled, so she stabbed him instead.

Case status:
Beverley Eitzen (Mother); ruled mentally unfit to stand trial due to depression, and released on mental health supervision.

Source:
Mother freed over disabled son’s killing

Christian Chaote

Photo of Christian Choate, a boy with tousled blond hair.Name: Christian Milton Chaote.
Died: April 5, 2009.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma; internal bleeding, skull fracture.
Location: Gary, Indiana, USA.
Disability: Depression, anxiety, ADHD.

Details:
Christian’s parents abused him, eventually beating him to death.

Case status:
Riley Choate (Father), sentenced to 80 years.
Kimberly Kubina (Stepmother), sentenced to 25-35 years.

Source:
Angelizd’s Place: Christian Milton Chaote
Chilling letters of Christian Coate, boy kept in dog cage by his parents

Alexis Agyepong-Glover

Photo of Alexis Agyepong-Glover, a dark-skinned girl in a bright red shirt, her black hair pulled neatly back into a ponytail.Name: Alexis “Lexie” Agyepong-Glover.
Died: January 7, 2009.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Hypothermia, drowning.
Location: Woodbridge, Virginia, USA.
Disability: Reactive attachment disorder; mother claimed she had autism and sickle-cell anemia.

Details:
Lexie’s adoptive mother abandoned her in a freezing creek, in January. She died of drowning and exposure.

Case status:
Alfreedia Gregg-Glover (Adoptive mother), pled guilty to murder, child abuse, and filing a false police report; sentenced to 26 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Alexis “Lexie” Agyepong-Glover
Disabled Girl Described Beatings, Neighbor Says
Lexie Agyepong-Glover — a Tragedy in Plain Sight
Alexis “Lexie” Agyepong-Glover
Mother Indicted In Va. Killing