Type: Fatal Abuse – Disability Day of Mourning

Walid

No Photo Name: Walid (Surname unknown).
Died: Unspecified; announcement made January 10, 2023.
Age at death: Adult.
Cause of death: Bludgeoned.
Location: Gargarish, Tripoli, Libya.
Disability: Developmental disability

Details:
Walid was living in an institution for people with disabilities two months before he was married to his wife. Some time after that, he was dead. Police released a video in which they interviewed his wife, who first blamed Walid’s death on a home invasion, but then admitted that he collapsed and died after she beat him with a metal broom handle for breaking some coffee cups.

Case Status:
His wife (Arrested).

Sources:
Libya: Woman beats her husband to death for breaking coffee cups
سيدة تقتل زوجها من ذوى الإعاقة لكسره فنجانين قهوة | موقع نساعد
جريمة تروع ليبيا.. سيدة تقتل زوجها لسبب غير متوقع
بسبب تكسيره فنجانين للقهوة.. سيدة ليبية تتخلص من زوجها | المصري اليوم
وزارة الداخلية – ليبيا
جبروت امرأة ضربت زوجها حتى الموت: مبيسمعش الكلام – المصريون

Skyler Wilson

Name: Skyler Wilson.
Died: January 9, 2023.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Hypoxic brain injury.
Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
Disability: Reactive attachment disorder.

Details:
Skyler’s parents allegedly tried to “treat” him by swaddling him tightly–so tightly that he could not breathe. Skyler was rushed to the hospital, but died four days later from a brain injury caused by lack of oxygen.

Case Status:
Joseph Wilson (Adoptive father), charged with murder.
Jodi Wilson (Adoptive mother), charged with murder.

Sources:
Warrants reveal Surry County 4-year-old died of hypoxic brain injury, wrist and ankle straps found in home
Search warrants reveal Surry County 4-year-old died from a hypoxic brain injury
Search warrant sheds light on child’s death
Parents Abused 4-Year-Old Son, Who Languished in Hospital for Days before Dying: Deputies
Husband, wife charged with murder of 4-year-old

4-year-old girl

No Photo Name Unknown.
Died: December 14, 2022.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Beating.
Location: Geumjeong-gu, Busan, South Korea.
Disability: Blind.

Details:
This 4-year-old girl was taken to the hospital, dead on arrival. A doctor called the police, who suspect the girl’s mother of severely beating her when she woke her mother up asking for food.

Case Status:
Her mother, charged with murder.

Sources:
Mother apprehended over murder of blind 4-year-old daughter

Edwin Colleson

No Photo Name: Edwin Colleson.
Died: December 4, 2022.
Age at death: 45.
Cause of death: Undetermined.
Location: Hitchcock, Texas, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Edwin was admitted to the hospital in critical condition, covered in scars and bedsores and with multiple injuries as well as evidence of having been tied up. He weighed 70 pounds, and died six days later. His parents claimed they had been trying to cure his disability with “holistic treatment” that, police say, amounted to torture.

Case Status:
Billie Jean Barnes (Mother), charged with injury to a disabled person.
Timothy Ray Ellis (Stepfather), charged with injury to a disabled person.

Sources:
A 45-year-old man police say was abused by his mother and step-father died on Sunday
45-year-old with intellectual disability dies 5 days after Hitchcock police find him disfigured
Disabled man dies from injuries after subjected to torturous ‘holistic’ procedures by mother, stepfather, Hitchcock police say

Hunter Drew

Name: Hunter Drew.
Died: October 20, 2022.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Mount Auburn, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Developmental delay, chronic illness.

Details:
Hunter had gotten into a scuffle with a sibling when his father’s girlfriend allegedly grabbed him, threw him so that his head hit a hard object, and then drove him around in her car for three hours while he died of a head injury.

Hunter loved motorcycles, trains, race cars, and big loud trucks.

Case Status:
Ashley N. Bottoms (Father’s girlfriend), charged with involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment causing death.

Sources:
Did custody change cause Hunter’s death?
Charges filed in death of 3-year-old
Family and friends gather for Hunter Drew’s visitation
The short life of a 3-year-old boy taken too soon
DCFS facilitates 3-year-old downstate boy’s move in with his father, and now the boy is dead

Yat-ming Lai

No Photo Name: Yat-ming Lai.
Died: September 2, 2022.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Beating.
Location: Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Disability: Developmental disability.

Details:
Yat-ming was found dead, his body covered in bruises.

Case Status:
Shing-tai Lai (Mother), charged with murder.
His aunt, charged with child neglect.

Sources:
Mother of murdered 5 year old boy was remanded in a mental health facility in Hong Kong

Miss Hsieh

No Photo Name: Hsieh (Family name; given name unknown).
Died: August 4, 2022.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Taoyuan City, Taiwan.
Disability: Developmental delay, poor balance.

Details:
When three-year-old miss Hsieh refused to take her bath, her father beat her and then forced her to stand on a stool, from which she fell. She died of a brain injury; her body showed signs of regular beatings.

Case Status:
Mr. Hsieh (Father), convicted of child abuse resulting in death, sentenced to 9 years.

Sources:
Court sentences man for abuse, death of daughter
Supreme Court upholds man’s 9-year sentence for causing daughter’s death

Adam Kortes

Name: Adam Kortes.
Died: July 21, 2022.
Age at death: 27.
Cause of death: Asphyxia; torso compression.
Location: Danville, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: “Special needs” (Multiple disabilities).

Details:
Adam died from being restrained, his chest compressed so that he could not take a breath. Police say his parents would restrain him when he had “episodes”, and that his father had sat on Adam. The death was registered as a homicide and his parents were charged.

Neighbors remember Adam as a young man who used to walk around the neighborhood, and never bothered anyone.

Case Status:
Kristine Kortes (Mother), charged with neglect of a dependent person and involuntary manslaughter.
Richard Kortes (Father), charged with neglect of a dependent person and involuntary manslaughter.

Sources:
Parents face charges after son’s death in Montour County
Parents charged after death of son with special needs
Parents of Danville man charged for his death
Parents charged in son’s July death

Timothy Ferguson

No Photo Name: Timothy Ferguson.
Died: July 6, 2022.
Age at death: 15.
Cause of death: Malnutrition, hypothermia.
Location: Norton Shores, Michigan, USA.
Disability: Unspecified “special needs”.

Details:
Timothy died from a combination of starvation and hypothermia. Police say his mother had been feeding him very little, often just bread soaked in hot sauce, and had been forcing him to take ice baths.

Case Status:
Shanda Wander Ark (Mother), charged with murder and first-degree child abuse.
Paul Ferguson (Brother), charged with child abuse.

Sources:
Norton Shores mother heads to trial for murder, child abuse of teenage son
Norton Shores mom accused of torturing, killing son faced ‘similar allegations’ in custody case
Woman charged with homicide, child abuse of teenage son in Norton Shores
43-year-old woman arrested for open murder of teen in Norton Shores
Woman charged with murder, abuse in death of underfed teen
MI Woman Charged After Son Dies, Tortured With Ice Baths and More
A mother charged with the death of her child
‘Sadistic’: Mother charged with abuse, murder of teen

Katherine Sokolich

No Photo Name: Katherine Sokolich.
Died: July 3, 2022.
Age at death: 63.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Ballwin, Missouri, USA.
Disability: Unspecified.

Details:
Katherine’s brother, who was her court-appointed guardian and responsible for taking care of her, allegedly beat her because he was frustrated with taking care of her. She was hospitalized, and later died of a brain bleed due to head trauma.

Case Status:
Anthony Sokolich (Brother, guardian), charged with first-degree assault; charges likely to be upgraded due to Katherine’s death.

Sources:
Police say 70-year-old Missouri man killed disabled sister
Man accused of beating disabled sister to death
70-Year-Old Missouri Man Beat His Disabled Sister to Death: Authorities
Disabled woman dies after attack by ‘frustrated’ caretaker brother near Ballwin, police say