Category: Type: Fatal Abuse

Fatal abuse.

Bruce Rangitutia

Photo of Bruce Rangitutia, a middle-aged man smiling awkwardly at the camera. He is wearing a white T-shirt; his skin is tan, and his hair is salt-and-pepper, cut short.Name: Bruce Tau Rangitutia.
Died: December 8, 2015.
Age at death: 55.
Cause of death: Head injury, pneumonia, starvation.
Location: Tokoroa, North Island, New Zealand.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, intellectual disability.

Details:
When Bruce’s mother died, he went to live with his brother and sister-in-law, who abused and neglected him. He shrank to 45.7 kilos and was hospitalized after entering a coma. After being stabilized, he was supposed to go to a rehabilitation facility; but his brother and sister-in-law refused this once they realized they would no longer receive money for caring for him; so he went back to live with them. They went right back to neglecting him, including denying him his regular medication.  Confined to bed because of malnutrition and unexplained injuries from blunt-force trauma that were likely caused by abuse, he was unable to get food for himself, and his caregivers ignored his cries for food and water. He died of a combination of head injury, pneumonia, bedsores, and starvation.

Case status:
Jovander Raymond Terry (Adoptive brother), pleaded guilty to ill treatment of a vulnerable adult, sentenced to 6 years 7 months.
Annie Mathews (Sister-in-law), pleaded guilty to ill treatment of a vulnerable adult and failing to seek medical care, sentenced to 4 years 10 1/2 months.

Source:
A Tokoroa couple have been jailed after starving a man with cerebral palsy to death – 23-Sep-2019 – NZ Law and Order news
Vulnerable man who drank own urine spends last hours ‘constantly moaning and calling for food and water’
Vulnerable man starved by carers died weighing 6st after begging for food
Tokoroa couple admit starving man with cerebral palsy before he died
View Bruce RANGITUTIA’s Notice on nzherald.co.nz and share memories

Payal Sawant

No PhotoName: Payal Sawant.
Died: November 30, 2015.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Disability: Paraplegic, intellectually disabled.

Details:
Payal and her 8-year-old sister were tortured by their stepmother when their father was away at work. Payal’s stepmother tried to pass off her death as a natural one, but police saw the marks of abuse on her body. Payal may have died when she was strangled, or when she had her head slammed into a wall.

Case status:
Pratibha Sawant (Stepmother); convicted of torture and murder, sentenced to life in prison.

Source:
Bhandup woman held for torturing, killing stepdaughter
Mumbai: Stepmother booked for killing 6-year-old mentally unstable girl
Woman gets life for torture, murder of six-year-old stepdaughter

Adrian Jones

Photo of Adrian Jones, a small boy with dark hair in a buzz cut, light-brown skin, and dark eyes. His left eyelid droops slightly; his expression is neutral. He is wearing a red, gray, and and white T-shirt.Name: Adrian Jones.
Died: September or October 2015; body found November 26, 2015.
Age at death: 7.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Kansas City, Kansas, USA.
Disability: “Special needs”; PTSD and reactive attachment disorder.

Details:
Adrian was confined to a bedroom, where he was beaten by his father and starved by his parents. When he died of starvation after having been confined to a shower for the last month of his life, his father fed his body to his pigs.

Case status:
Heather Jones (Stepmother), pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and child abuse, sentenced to 25 years to life.
Michael Jones (Father), pleaded guilty to child abuse, aggravated battery and aggravated assault, sentenced to 25 years to life.

Source:

Kansas will pay $1 million over the murder of torture victim whose body was fed to pigs
Prosecutor: Abuse charges just ‘tip of the iceberg’ in Michael Jones case
Stepmom enters plea in death of Kan. boy; remains found in pig pen
US stepmother pleads guilty to murder of boy fed to pigs
Kansas woman gets life term in 7-year-old stepson’s death
Life sentence expected for father who confessed to killing son, feeding body to pigs
Father to be sentenced after abusing, killing, feeding son to pigs
‘Daddy keeps hitting me’: Boy who was killed, fed to pigs told authorities about abuse
Father who tortured, killed 7-year-old Adrian Jones sentenced to life in prison
A life of torture: Kansas boy was starved, beaten for years until he died and parents fed him to pigs
Social worker knew 7-year-old was killed and fed to pigs was being tortured

Harold Grise

No PhotoName: Harold Grise.
Died: November 6, 2015.
Age at death: 68.
Cause of death: Trauma.
Location: Fish Lake, Michigan, USA.
Disability: Blind, mobility impaired.

Details:
Harold was badly beaten by his nephew, leaving him unresponsive with broken bones in his face and jaw. Instead of getting help for him, his sister left him on the floor for three days. He was only taken to the hospital once his son returned home and found him; but by then, it was too late to save his life.

Harold was a veteran of the US Air Force.

Case status:
Erik Minter (Nephew), pleaded guilty to battery and neglect of a dependent, sentenced to 22 years.
Georgia Arvidson (Sister), convicted of felony neglect of a dependent, sentenced to 2 years.

Source:
Man sentenced to 22 years beating uncle who later died
Elderly sister found guilty of neglect in Fish Lake brother’s death
Mother and son arrested for homicide
Harold I. Grise
Elderly sister found guilty of neglect in Fish Lake brother’s death

Sally Nelson

No PhotoName: Sally Nelson.
Died: November 1, 2015.
Age at death: 63.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Connellsville, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Elderly disabled.

Details:
Sally died of head injuries from a beating after suffering malnutrition and several other broken bones. Her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend were charged with the crime.

Case status:
Peter Shoemaker Jr. (Daughter’s boyfriend), charged with criminal homicide, conspiracy, aggravated and simple assault and reckless endangerment. Currently incarcerated as of 11/1/2022, sentence unknown.
Lisa Nelson (Daughter), pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 3-6 years.

Source:
Defense seeks dismissal, suppression in 2015 death trial
Woman pleads in mother’s death; ex-boyfriend awaits trial
‘You killed my grandma’: Statement evidence against couple charged in ‘severe elder abuse’ death
Couple charged in death of mother; elder abuse alleged

Lalia Hawthorne

Photo of a small child in a red polo shirt. She has fair skin, round brown eyes, and blonde hair in a buzz cut.Name: Lalia Delinar Hawthorne.
Died: October 27, 2015.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Abdominal trauma.
Location: Savannah, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Down syndrome.

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

Case status:
James Emmanuel Robinson (Mother’s boyfriend), convicted of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault and three counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, sentenced to life without parole.

Source:
Supreme Court upholds murder conviction against man who killed 4-year-old
Lalia Hawthorne – Obituary
Savannah man sentenced to life without parole in 2015 murder of four year old girl

Janiya Thomas

Photo of Janiya Thomas, an African-American girl with her hair in a few straggly dreadlocks, wearing a striped shirt.Name: Janiya Thomas.
Died: Last seen June 9, 2014; body found October 18, 2015.
Age at death: 11.
Cause of death: Homicide.
Location: Bradenton, Florida, USA.
Disability: Unnamed bowel/digestive condition, causing incontinence.

Details:
Janiya was last seen by child protective services about a month before her mother, citing Janiya’s medical condition, a digestive problem which had killed Janiya’s father, announced to the state that she had decided to home-school Janiya. In reality, she abused Janiya, locking her in the bathroom for days at a time to punish her.

More than a year later, when her mother publicly beat Janiya’s older brother and child protective services came for Janiya’s four siblings, Janiya was not with them and the children reported that they had not seen Janiya in a long time. Several days later, Janiya’s body was found in a freezer, and her mother was arrested. An autopsy found that Janiya had been starved, suffocated, or drowned.

Janiya was a shy girl who liked hot tortilla chips and baby dolls.

Case status:
Keishanna Thomas (Mother), pleaded no contest to second-degree murder, sentenced to 65 years.

Source:
Mother who hid daughter’s body in freezer gets 65 years
Investigators hope to learn more about presumed death of missing Bradenton girl Janiya Thomas
Autopsy: Janiya Thomas starved, suffocated or drowned
Mother of 11-Year-Old Found Dead in Padlocked Freezer Indicted for Murder; Court Papers Reveal Allegations of Horrific Abuse

Kenneth Mobley Jr.

Gravestone reading Mobley, Edna Mae, 1/24/1926-5/11/1990, beloved mother and grandmother; Kenneth P. Jr, 8/25/1985-10/5/2015, beloved son & grandson.Name: Kenneth Pernell Mobley Jr.
Died: October 5, 2015.
Age at death: 30.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Greenville County, South Carolina, USA.
Disability: Unspecified; dwarfism, “physical abnormalities”.

Details:
Kenneth’s sister beat him and starved him. When she poured hot water over his head, burning him, he drowned.

Case status:
Kendra Mobley (Sister), pleaded guilty to neglect, sentenced to 28 years.
Jamario Alexis Green (Sister’s boyfriend), sentenced to 9 years for failing to report a crime.

Source:
Woman burned, beat her disabled brother, who died weighing 51 pounds
Kenneth Pernell Mobley, Jr (1985 – 2015) – Find A Grave Memorial
Obituary for Kenneth Pernell Mobley, Jr. – MIAMI, FL

La’Marion Jordan

Closeup photo of La'Marion Jordan, a small African-American boy with medium-brown skin and close-cropped black hair.Name: La’Marion Jordan.
Died: September 4, 2015.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Lancaster, South Carolina, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
La’Marion’s adoptive father picked him up and threw him down the hallway, causing a fatal head injury.

Case status:
Robert Jordan (Adoptive father), pleaded guilty to infliction of great bodily injury upon a child, sentenced to 14-20 years.

Source:
Father charged with homicide by child abuse after disabled 5-year-old son dies
Lancaster man pleads guilty in adopted son’s death

Chaitanya Balpande

Photo of Chaitanya Balpande, an adolescent boy wearing a blue polo shirt. He has short black hair and tan skin; there is a spot of red on his forehead.Name: Chaitanya Balpande.
Died: August 5, 2015.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Disability: Cerebral palsy (spastic diplegia).

Details:
Chaitanya’s mother abused him, beating him for limping when he walked, starving him, locking him up, and making him exercise for hours at a time. Chaitanya died of injuries received when his mother beat him with a cricket bat.

Case status:
Rakhi Balpande (Mother), convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, sentenced to 10 years.

Source:
Sessions Court in Pune sentences woman to 10 years in prison for murdering her differently-abled son
13-yr-old was beaten to death with cricket bat he considered lucky