Type: Fatal Abuse – Page 13 – Disability Day of Mourning

Aaliyah Taylor

Photo of a teenage girl with short curly black hair and brown skin, wearing a quizzical expression. Name: Aaliyah Taylor.
Died: October 15, 2016.
Age at death: 14.
Cause of death: Respiratory failure due to drug toxicity.
Location: Spring, Texas, USA.
Disability: Microcephaly, multiple sclerosis, autism and seizures.

Details:
Aaliyah was abused by her father and caregivers. He repeatedly used a stun gun on her, and they drugged her with blood pressure medication that she hadn’t been prescribed. The medication caused her to stop breathing and die.

Case status:
Anthony Jackson (Father), convicted of first-degree injury to a child, sentenced to 65 years, with parole possible after 8.5 years.
Keyonna Gunner (Home health worker), convicted of injury to a child, sentenced to 90 days in jail and 7 years probation.
Tommieretta Gunner (Home health worker), convicted of injury to a child, sentenced to 8 years in prison.
Marreissa Jones (Home health worker), charged with first-degree injury to a child.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Aaliyah Taylor
Three charged in death of special-needs teen
Houston Officials: Special needs teen who died last year was abused
Teaxs Digest: Special-needs teen who died was abused, officials say
Special needs teen who died last year was abused, 3 suspects arrested
Girl, 14, with special needs dies after given blood pressure medication, autopsy shows
Special needs teen who died last year was abused
Three adults use stun gun on special needs teen for months before delivering deadly dose of unprescribed meds: Cops
Fourth suspect arrested in disturbing abuse, death of special needs teenager
MCSO: Fourth suspect arrested in special needs teen’s death
Police charged three in the death of a special needs girl, but believe a 4th took part

Adam Snyder

No Photo Name: Adam J. Snyder.
Died: October 5, 2016.
Age at death: 8.
Cause of death: Head injury, starvation, pneumonia.
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Unspecified special needs.

Details:
Adam died from a head injury, made worse by pneumonia and malnutrition. His adoptive parents are suspected of having starved Adam for the last month of his life.

Case Status:
Katherine Snyder (Adoptive mother), charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, and endangering children.
John Snyder (Adoptive mother), charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, and endangering children.

Sources:
Trial begins for Springfield Twp. couple accused of killing boy they adopted from China
Ohio Couple Arrested Near Canadian Border For Adopted Son’s 2016 Murder, Child Abuse
Mom and Dad Face Murder Charges in 8-Year-Old’s Death After Failed Civil Suit Claimed Ohio Coroner ‘Damaged and Sullied’ Their Reputations
Questions remain as Ohio couple faces murder charges 6 years after 8-yr-old special needs son’s death | MEAWW
Horror details emerge as couple ‘starved son before bludgeoning him to death’
Parents indicted for adopted child’s 2016 death; 5 other kids found severely malnourished, abused
Parents charged with murder 5 years after death of 8-year-old
Police Arrest Couple Wanted for Murder of Child in Ohio

Barbara Getman

Name: Barbara Getman.
Died: August 17, 2016.
Age at death: 39.
Cause of death: Internal bleeding.
Location: Watertown, New York, USA.
Disability: Bipolar disorder, depression, borderline personality, PTSD.

Details:
Barbara liked camping and reading crime novels. She worked at a fish hatchery.

Barbara’s boyfriend beat her to death, hitting her so hard in the stomach that her liver ruptured.

Case status:
Gregory Noonan (Boyfriend), convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced to 25 years to life.

Source:
Noonan sentenced for 2016 slaying
Gregory Noonan found guilty of killing Barbara Getman
Jury Hears Noonan’s Recorded Statement To Police
Barbara Lee Getman
Watertown Man Charged in Housemate’s Killing

Mirudula

No Photo Name: Mirudula.
Died: July 7, 2016.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Head and internal injury.
Location: Chintadripet, Chennai, India.
Disability: Stuttering.

Details:
Mirudula’s parents put her in speech therapy, and became frustrated when she did not respond well to it. She allegedly died because her parents tried to cure her speech impediment through “shock treatment”–they beat her, threatened her with a knife, tried to suffocate her with a pillow, and eventually hit her so hard that they caused fatal injuries to her head and internal organs.

Case status:
X Gerald (Adoptive father), charged with murder.
Sangeetha (Adoptive mother), under suspicion.

Source:
Lawyer held for murder, year after adopted daughter’s death
Year after adopted child dies due to torture, heartless parent arrested in Chennai
Chennai: Lawyer held for murder of daughter

Patricia Kearney

Photo of Patricia Kearney, a woman with tanned skin and short dark-blonde hair. She is wearing glasses and a tank top. She is looking off to the left of the photo. Name: Patricia Kearney.
Died: July 6, 2016.
Age at death: 56.
Cause of death: Blunt-force injury, head trauma.
Location: Tonga.
Disability: An “incurable nerve disorder”.

Details:
Patricia died from multiple blunt-force injuries to her head and body, including a blow to the head that caused bleeding in the brain. Her husband said she fell down the stairs, but witnesses reported seeing Patricia’s husband beating her to death.

Case status:
Dean Fletcher (Husband), arrested for murder; escaped from Tonga police, arrested by US police. US refused extradition and released him in Hawaii without charges.

Source:
A death in paradise
Man who won’t be extradited to Tonga for wife’s murder says he’s innocent
Tonga disappointed with US denial of extradition for murder accused

Rifat Mohammed

No Photo Name: Rifat Mohammed.
Died: July 6, 2016.
Age at death: 3 months.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Poplar, East London, England, UK.
Disability: Symbrachydactyly.

Details:
Rifat died from abuse inflicted by his parents because he had a “deformed hand”. He had shattered ribs and legs and a broken spine, and died from a head injury consistent with shaken baby syndrome.

Case status:
Mohammed Miah (Father), convicted of murder and causing suffering, sentenced to 18 years.
Rebeka Nazmin (Mother), convicted of allowing Rifat’s death and causing suffering, sentenced to 6 years.

Source:
Mohammed Miah jailed for 18 years for baby son Rifat’s murder
Mohammed Miah jailed for 18 years for baby son Rifat’s murder
Mother accused of murder ‘told child to shake her baby’
Parents ‘told young child to shake baby on morning he was found dead’
Baby who suffered 46 fractures and a broken spine ‘mistreated over deformity’
Murder detectives launch probe after death of three-month-old baby
Baby ‘violently shaken to death by his parents’ had 47 broken bones
Abused three-month-old baby violently shaken to death
Father found guilty of murdering baby who suffered 38 rib fractures, eight fractures to his legs and a broken spine
Father who killed 13-week old baby blamed autistic child
Father who murdered 13-week-old baby jailed

Mason Bryan

Photo of Mason Bryan, a toddler boy with curly brown hair, tan skin, and dark-brown eyes. He is smiling slightly. Name: Mason Bentlee Bryan.
Died: June 24, 2016.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Aiken, South Carolina, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Mason liked jumping off the furniture. He watched Thomas the Tank Engine, The Lion King, and Cars, and he had a little brother named Wyatt.

Mason was beaten to death by his mother’s boyfriend.

case status:
Derek Matthew Roberson (Mother’s boyfriend), pleaded guilty to homicide by child abuse, sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Amanda Bryan (Mother), charged with child neglect.

Source:
Aiken man pleads guilty to abusing autistic child to death, gets 25 years
Couple charged in homicide of 4-year-old child
Mom and mom’s boyfriend formally charged in 4-year-old’s death
Mother, live-in boyfriend accused of killing 4-year-old in Aiken Co.
Mason Bentlee Bryan’s Obituary on The Aiken Standard

Amir Ross

No Photo Name: Amir Ross.
Died: May 31, 2016.
Age at death: 1.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Decatur, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Developmental disabilities; tube-fed.

Details:
Amir was beaten to death by his parents.

Case status:
Eric Ross (Father), convicted of child cruelty and murder, sentenced to 20 years.
Angel Branch (Mother), convicted of child cruelty and murder, sentenced to 20 years.

Source:
Couple Beat Disabled Toddler To Death: Charges
DeKalb pair accused of killing disabled toddler with ‘unknown object’

37-year-old man

No Photo Name Unknown.
Died: May 31, 2016.
Age at death: 37.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Sikamat, Seremban, Malaysia.
Disability: “Mentally unstable”.

Details:
While their parents were away, this 37-year-old man was left in the care of his older brother. When he wet his pants, his brother allegedly beat him, hitting him in the head. In the morning he was dead. Police arrested his brother for murder.

Case status:
His brother, age 40, charged with murder.

Source:
Man fatally beats up brother for peeing in pants
Pukul adik OKU sampai mati

Elsie Scully-Hicks

Name: Elsie Scully-Hicks.
Died: May 29, 2016.
Age at death: 18 months.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Llandaff, Wales, UK.
Disability: Developmental delay.

Details:
Adopted at ten months, Elsie was beaten and shaken to death by her adoptive father eight months later, only two weeks after the adoption was finalized.

Case status:
Matthew Scully-Hicks (Adoptive father), convicted of murder, sentenced to 18 years to life.

Source:
Elsie Scully-Hicks: Dad jailed for life for murder
Gay father killed his only 18-month-old daughter just two weeks after adopting her
Murder accused described girl as ‘Satan dressed in baby grow’, court told
Elsie Scully-Hicks: first picture emerges of toddler allegedly murdered by father
Father guilty of shaking to death baby he adopted two weeks earlier
Adoptive dad guilty of baby’s murder