Type: Fatal Abuse – Disability Day of Mourning

Parambuliyil Thankamani

Name: Parambuliyil Thankamani.
Died: August 7, 2023.
Age at death: 80.
Cause of death: Blunt head and neck injury.
Location: Maniyarankudy, Kerala, India.
Disability: Unspecified; bedridden.

Details:
Parambuliyil was brought to the hospital with injuries to her head and neck, and lived for a week before dying from her wounds. Police say her son, angry that she wouldn’t eat the food he was trying to feed her, slammed her head against her cot and hit her with the glass he was holding, and that he later confessed to doing so after being questioned.

Case Status:
Sanjeev (Son), charged with murder.

Sources:
Idukki man held for murdering 80-year-old bedridden mother

Jermiyah Puskac

No Photo Name: Jermiyah Puskac.
Died: April 29, 2023.
Age at death: 17 months.
Cause of death: Head and neck trauma.
Location: Ocala, Florida, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Jermiyah’s mother allegedly caused a skull fracture and neck injury, and then did not call an ambulance until a day after the injury happened. Jermiyah spent two days in the hospital before he died. He had bruises and other injuries consistent with child abuse.

Case Status:
Puskac Summerfield (Mother), charged with murder.

Sources:
Marion County mother charged with murder in death of her 17-month-old son
Central Florida mother charged in infant’s death
Central Florida woman accused of killing her 17-month-old son, deputies say
‘I’ll just have another one’: Mother who gave shifting stories about toddler son’s death now facing murder charges
Autism Memorial: Jermiyah Puskac

5-year-old girl

No Photo Name Unknown.
Died: April 27, 2023.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Beaten.
Location: Surat, Gujarat, India.
Disability: Unspecified.

Details:
This 5-year-old girl died from her injuries after her mother, who came home to hear her crying, allegedly became infuriated and beat her severely.

Case Status:
Bilkisbanu (Mother), arrested on suspicion of murder.

Sources:
Surat: Shocking revelation in the murder of a 5-year-old disabled girl
A mother killed her 5-year-old disabled daughter in Surat
Shocking Twist in Surat Murder Case of 5-Year-Old Disabled Girl

Bijay Pradhan

A seated man with brown skin, black hair, and a mustache; he is wearing a collared shirt with blue, red, and white stripes. His expression is neutral. Name: Bijay Pradhan.
Died: February 18, 2023.
Age at death: 35.
Cause of death: Beaten.
Location: Patharapunja Village, Odisha, India.
Disability: Physical disability.

Details:
Bijay wanted to be married; so his uncle arranged a marriage for him. But his stepmother did not want him married because she thought he would inherit all the family’s property, and she did not want a “divyang” (Hindu: a disabled person, lit., “one with a divine body part”) to inherit. She recruited his father and stepbrothers, and together they allegedly beat him and starved him for months. Neighbors found Bijay, rescued him, and rushed him to the hospital; but even after he was transferred for advanced treatment, his injuries proved fatal, and he died.

Bijay was an autorickshaw driver.

Case Status:
Bijay’s stepmother, father, and stepbrothers are under investigation by police, suspected of murder.

Sources:
Stepmother, father allegedly murder physically-challenged son in Nayagarh district
Stepmother, Father Beat Divyang Youth To Death For Expressing Desire To Marry | Odisha
Divyang man beaten to death by stepmother, father for ‘wanting’ to marry
Odisha woman kills stepson for property

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