Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Age 19-29
Name: Nicholas Richett.
Died: June 12, 2015.
Age at death: 20.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Melvindale, Michigan, USA.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
Nicholas’s father shot him and then killed himself.
Case status:
John Richett Jr. (Father), deceased.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Nicholas Richett
Statement on the murder of Nicholas Richett
Terminally ill man kills himself and autistic son
Melvindale cops say dad killed autistic son, himself
Nicholas Richett Obituary
Name: Kimberly L. Stern.
Died: June 9, 2015.
Age at death: 27.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Dubuque, Iowa, USA.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
Kim’s father killed her by shooting her 17 times.
Kim had a doll collection, with a name and a personality for each doll. She liked to write stories about them.
Case status:
Robert Stern (Father), convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to life.
Source:
Dubuque man convicted of killing daughter gets life sentence
Testimony begins in Robert Stern murder trial
Opening statements, witness testimony heard in Robert Stern trial
UPDATE: Police: Dubuque dad shot daughter with 3 different guns
Dubuque Father Charged with Murder in Daughter’s Death
Police say Dubuque man admitting to killing his daughter
Autism Memorial: Kimberly Stern
Police: Man admits to shooting, killing daughter
Dubuque man charged in daughter’s death
UPDATE: Dubuque man convicted of 1st-degree murder in daughter’s killing
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
Name: 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
Name: Emily Janzen.
Died: May 7, 2015.
Age at death: 19.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Rosedale, British Columbia, Canada.
Disability: Migraines, depression.
Details:
Emily and her family were shot by her father, who said he could not “watch his little girl hurt for one more second” before he killed Emily, then killed her mother Laurel and aunt to spare them the pain of hearing that Emily was dead, and then killed himself.
Emily was a music student who aspired to be an opera singer.
Case status:
Randy Janzen (Father), deceased.
Source:
Emily Janzen Remembered As ‘Amazing’ Singer After B.C. Triple Murder, Suicide
Name: Brooke MacBeth.
Died: Unknown. Body found May 3, 2015, six months to a year after death.
Age at death: 28.
Cause of death: Unknown.
Location: Lakeside, California, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.
Details:
What happened to Brooke is unknown. All we know is that she was found dead, weighing only forty pounds, stuffed into a suitcase in her mother’s apartment, with amphetamine, marijuana, and oxycodone in her system. An autopsy did not find evidence of trauma, but most such evidence would no longer have been detectable because Brooke had been in the suitcase for several months.
Brooke’s teachers remember her strong voice, engaging smile, and long ponytail.
Case status:
Bonnie MacBeth (mother), no charges.
Source:
Teachers Remember Former Student Found Dead in Suitcase
Officials Make Disturbing Discovery While Serving Eviction Notice
Officials: Body found in trunk was woman’s daughter
Loved ones remember life of disabled woman found in suitcase
Disabled Woman’s Body Found in Suitcase at Mom’s San Diego-Area Home Weighed Just 40 Pounds: Autopsy
Body Found in Suitcase Identified
Woman in suitcase likely died of natural causes: ME
Name Unknown.
Died: April 26, 2015.
Age at death: 20.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark.
Disability: Intellectual disability.
Details:
This young man was fatally stabbed in the neck by his younger sister. She told police, “I’ve just always hated him because he has ruined my life.”
Case status:
His 15-year-old sister. Ruled not guilty because of mental illness; sent to a psychiatric ward for treatment and eventual release.
Source:
15-årig pige erkender at have stukket sin bror ihjel
15-årig pige erkender: Jeg slog min storebror ihjel
15-årig pige stak sin bror ihjel: Moderen skrev lang artikel om deres problemer
15-årig pige stak storebror ihjel: ‘Nu har de mistet begge børn’
15-årig pige tilstår knivdrab: Stak storebror i halsen
16-årig pige hadede sin storebror og dræbte ham med kniv
Danish girl killed disabled brother who ‘ruined life’
Name: Annie Ee Yu Lian.
Died: April 13, 2015.
Age at death: 26.
Cause of death: Fat embolism.
Location: Singapore.
Disability: Intellectual disability.
Details:
Annie lived with a friend and her husband. She worked as a waitress.
Her caregivers took her salary, repeatedly beat her, and did not seek medical care when she was obviously dying. She died from a fat embolism, a clump of fat that tore loose from her injuries and clogged a critical blood vessel. She had a ruptured stomach and many broken bones from eight months of torture.
Case status:
Tan Hui Zhen (Housemate), pleaded guilty to causing grievous hurt, sentenced to 16-and-a-half years in jail.
Pua Hak Chuan (Housemates), pleaded guilty to causing grievous hurt, sentenced to 14 years in jail and 14 strokes of the cane.
Neither could be charged with murder because they “did not intend to kill” Annie, and because she died of a fat embolism, which is a rare medical complication.
Source:
Couple ‘tortured’ intellectually disabled waitress, who died after 8 months of abuse
Couple plead guilty to torturing mentally disabled ‘friend’ for 8 months until she died
Couple abused intellectually disabled waitress to completely control her: Prosecutors
Mentally disabled woman dies after being abused for 8 months by couple
Couple tortured intellectually disabled woman for months until she died
Over 18,000 signatures received for petition to seek heavier punishment for abusers of deceased intellectually disabled waitress
Couple who tortured friend to death: Wife gets 16½ years’ jail, husband gets 14 years, 14 strokes of the cane
‘They were like gangsters’: Neighbour of couple who ‘tortured’ intellectually disabled woman
‘An apology is not enough’: Brother of woman who beat Annie Ee to death
People around Annie Ee knew something bad was happening
Couple who tortured Annie Ee: Prosecutor could not charge them with murder, says AGC
Name: Ashley Lovett.
Died: October 2014; body found April 10, 2015.
Age at death: 27.
Cause of death: Unknown.
Location: Millen, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.
Details:
Ashley was the mother of a baby which was taken away from her and placed with family members.
Ashley’s stepmother and half-brother, whom she lived with, did not report her death and collected her disability checks for several months after she died. When asked where Ashley was, they lied to investigators.
How Ashley died cannot be determined because her body was burned and buried more than a year before it was found; at that point only fragments were left to be identified by their DNA match to Ashley’s child, now two or three years old and living with family.
Case status:
Susan Lovett (stepmother), pleaded guilty to concealing the death of a relative, sentenced to 10 years prison and 10 years probation.
Christopher Eugene Lovett (half-brother), pleaded guilty to concealing the death of a relative, sentenced to 10 years prison and 10 years probation.
Source:
2 deny concealing death of relative
2 plead guilty in concealment of Jenkins death
EXCLUSIVE ON 6: Ashley Lovett’s Family Member Speaks out About Possible Abuse in the Home
Test results inconclusive on remains believed to belong to missing Millen woman
Name Unknown.
Died: March 23, 2015.
Age at death: 21.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Taipei, Taiwan.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, intellectual disability.
Details:
This young man’s father, claiming his family was tired of taking care of him, allegedly strangled him to death.
Case status:
Ho Chung-ming (Father); charged with homicide.