Type: Fatal Abuse – Page 14 – Disability Day of Mourning

Leonard Isequias

No Photo
Name: Leonard Isequias.
Died: May 26, 2016.
Age at death: 52.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Vryburg, South Africa.
Disability: Unspecified; wheelchair user.

Details:
Leonard’s brother-in-law, who police say habitually abused and starved him, reportedly locked him inside the house without any food and left him there for a week. When he came back, he saw that Leonard had become so desperate to survive that he had been eating his own waste. To punish him, his brother-in-law allegedly beat him to death with a whip.

Case status:
Junior Santos (brother-in-law), charged with murder.

Source:
Disabled man ‘starved and beaten to death’
Brother-in-law peed off by disabled relative beats him to death in fit of rage
Cops probe murder of disabled man in North West
Man accused of beating disabled brother-in-law to death wants charge changed
Wheelchair-bound man killed for eating own faeces was also abused

Ava Cole

No Photo Name: Ava Cole.
Died: May 14, 2016.
Age at death: 8 months.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Lansing, Michigan, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, heart condition, chronic illness.

Details:
Ava was thrown violently onto a couch by her father. The impact caused a head injury which resulted in her death.

Case status:
Tatum Cole (Father), convicted of involuntary manslaughter and second-degree child abuse, sentenced to ten years in prison.

Source:
Lansing man convicted in death of 8-month-old daughter
Michigan man convicted in death of 8-month-old daughter
PEOPLE OF MI V TATUM MICHAEL COLE (Per Curiam Opinion)

Kazue Kawazura

No Photo Name: Kazue Kawazura.
Died: March 21, 2016.
Age at death: 53.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Kobe, Japan.
Disability: “Mentally handicapped”.

Details:
Kazue’s sister and niece reported finding her dead in her bed. When police questioned them, they allegedly admitted to beating her to death with a vacuum cleaner tube, and said they had been beating her for several months because she made a mess when she ate.

Case status:
Shizue Nakahara (sister), arrested on suspicion of murder.
Akiko Nakahara (Niece), arrested on suspicion of murder.

Source:
Woman, daughter held over fatal abuse of woman’s sister
Hyogo cops: Woman dies after abuse by sister and niece in Kobe

Bethannie Johnson

Photo of Bethannie Johnson, a toddler girl in a short black-and-white dress and pink sandals. She has fair skin and short, wispy brown hair; she is sitting sideways on a curved surface and looking at the camera. Name: Bethannie Raychelle Johnson.
Died: March 17, 2016.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Grand Junction, Colorado, USA.
Disability: Reactive attachment disorder.

Details:
Bethannie was living with her aunt and her aunt’s girlfriend.

For two weeks, Bethannie’s aunt had kept her strapped to a high chair in the closet, claiming that she had to do this to keep Bethannie from hurting herself.

Bethannie was found unresponsive and dying of a massive head injury; she had been beaten to death by her aunt’s girlfriend. Her body showed signs of chronic child abuse.

Case status:
Shanna Gossett (Aunt), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 48 years in prison and 5 years parole.
Rebekah Joy Wallin (Aunt’s girlfriend), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 48 years in prison and 5 years parole.

Source:
Mesa County women sentenced in beating death of 3-year-old girl
Rebekah Joy Wallin on Why She Admitted Role in Child’s Death: “Because I’m Guilty”
Cops: Suspect kept child in closet
Woman Kept Niece Strapped To A High Chair And Locked In A Closet For Weeks
Woman, 29, ‘kept her niece in closet for two weeks before killing her’
Shanna Gossett: Aunt Kills 3-Year-Old Niece After Pushing Girl’s Head Into A Wall

Deborah Harris

No Photo Name: Deborah Harris.
Died: February 18, 2016.
Age at death: 22 months.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: San Jacinto, California, USA.
Disability: Developmental delay.

Details:
Deborah was beaten to death; her body showed signs of abuse and starvation. She was the youngest of three girls; her older sisters survived.

Case status:
Tamara Barker (Mother), charged with child cruelty resulting in death, sentenced to 10 years 8 months.
Malick Harris (Father), charged with child cruelty resulting in death, sentenced to 10 years 8 months.

Source:
Parents of San Jacinto toddler charged in her death a year later
Parents charged in daughter’s death in San Jacinto are arrested in Wyoming
Inmate Locator

Ezra Miller

Name: Ezra Miller, also called Ezra Decker.
Died: February 3, 2016.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Blunt-force trauma.
Location: Staunton, Virginia, USA.
Disability: ADHD, bed-wetting, speech impediment.

Details:
Ezra was beaten to death by his father because he had wet the bed.

Case status:
Steven T. Decker (Father), convicted of second-degree murder and child abuse, sentenced to 26 1/2 years in prison and 3 years probation.
Brianna Connolly (Father’s girlfriend), pleaded guilty to felony child neglect, given a suspended 10-year sentence and served 3 days in jail.

Source:
Staunton man sentenced for killing his child: Decker case
At murder trial, witness says Decker’s son’s injuries ‘didn’t fit with story’
Child-killer’s accomplice girlfriend gets 3 DAY jail sentence for 6-year-old’s beating death

Harmony Carsey

Name: Harmony Carsey.
Died: January 8, 2016.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Brain hemorrhage.
Location: New Straitsville, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Undiagnosed mental illness or developmental disability (Head-banging; atypical behavior).

Details:
Crystal’s autopsy report stated that she died of a brain hemorrhage, and that she was underweight and dehydrated. Her mother denied abusing her, and said instead that Harmony had “mental health problems” and hurt herself by banging her head.

Case status:
Crystal Reed (mother), pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 9 years.

Source:
Ohio Toddler’s Tragic Death Need Not Be in Vain if Ohio Courts Seize the Opportunity to Hold Reckless Child Protection Agency Accountable for its Role in the Child’s Abuse and Murder
Mom gets nine-year sentence for daughter’s death
Family seeks answers in 2-year-old’s death

Sophia Mahaffey

Photo of Sophia Mahaffey, a baby girl wearing a pink and gray checked dress and floppy pink hat. She is holding the hat on her head with one hand. Her wispy dark brown hair is short. She has fair skin. Name: Sophia Rose Mahaffey.
Died: January 5, 2016.
Age at death: 19 months.
Cause of death: Homicide.
Location: Cottonwood Heights, Utah, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy due to prematurity.

Details:
Sophia was allegedly beaten to death by her mother’s boyfriend.

Case status:
Jake Don Jensen (Mother’s boyfriend), charged with child abuse and child abuse homicide.

Source:
Cottonwood Heights man accused of abusing, killing wife’s infant daughter
Man charged in 2016 death of disabled 19-month-old girl – Story
Cottonwood Heights man charged with abusing and killing girlfriend’s daughter
Man Charged With Killing Disabled Toddler Before Marrying Her Mother
Utah man accused of abuse in 19-month-old girl’s death appears in court
Utah man, 29, is charged with killing girlfriend’s disabled daughter

Paul Roddy

Photo of Paul Roddy, a man with fair skin and dark-brown hair. He is wearing a suit and tie. Name: Paul Roddy.
Died: December 31, 2015.
Age at death: 55.
Cause of death: Pneumonia.
Location: Manchester, England, UK.
Disability: Multiple sclerosis.

Details:
The caregiver that Paul was living with did not care for him. Instead, the man beat him up and starved him while pocketing the government money he claimed as a caregiver to a disabled person. Paul died from abuse and neglect, his body severely malnourished; he had multiple broken bones.

Paul was a retired engineer and the father of four children.

Case status:
Christopher McAllister (“Friend”; Non-family, non-professional caregiver), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 10 years.

Source:
Unemployed thug beat seven stone Multiple Sclerosis sufferer to death
MS-sufferer beaten to death in own home by thug carer who left him malnourished
Violent carer who killed vulnerable MS sufferer is jailed
Man with MS died after carer physically abused him for months

Jermain Ngawhau

Name: Jermain Mason Ngawhau.
Died: December 18, 2015.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Clendon Park, Auckland, New Zealand.
Disability: Developmental delay.

Details:
Jermain’s grandmother was angry that he was having trouble walking; so she threw him down the hallway, causing a head injury that killed him. She then tried to blame his death on his four-year-old sister.

Case status:
Kathleen Elizabeth Cooper (Grandmother), convicted of murder, sentenced to 14-and-a-half years to life.

Source:
Grandma Accused Of Killing Grandson, Blaming It On His 4-Year-Old Sister
‘A very bleak picture’: High Court told of meth use in Auckland grandmother’s murder trial
Grandmother admits killing grandson but denies murder
Jermain Mason (Tiger) NGAWHAU’s Obituary
Murder-accused grandmother ‘never aggressive’, says dead boy’s mother
Grandma accused of murder was loved by grandson – mother
Cooper trial: Mother of dead toddler takes the stand
Jury begins deliberations in case of grandmother accused of murdering grandson
Grandma guilty of grandson’s murder
Grandmother Kathleen Cooper found guilty of murdering grandson
Kathleen Cooper murder case raises questions around whanau first principle
Life imprisonment for woman who killed grandson