Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Fatal abuse.
Name: Meah Weidner.
Died: July 7, 2009.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.
Details:
Meah’s mother’s boyfriend killed her by shaking her and dropping her on her head.
Case status:
David “Tony” Tyre (Mother’s boyfriend), homicide by child abuse, life without parole.
Source:
Child’s death stuns friends in Carolina Miracle League
Name: Caden Rivera.
Died: April 22, 2009.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Blunt force abdominal trauma.
Location: Cape May County, New Jersey, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.
Details:
Caden’s mother’s boyfriend beat him to death.
Case status:
Damian Rodriguez (Mother’s boyfriend), pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, sentenced to 11-13 years.
Source:
Cape May disabled toddler dies while under DYFS supervision
Wildwood man sentenced to 13 years in Woodbine toddler’s death
Name: Christian Milton Chaote.
Died: April 5, 2009.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma; internal bleeding, skull fracture.
Location: Gary, Indiana, USA.
Disability: Depression, anxiety, ADHD.
Details:
Christian’s parents abused him, eventually beating him to death.
Case status:
Riley Choate (Father), sentenced to 80 years.
Kimberly Kubina (Stepmother), sentenced to 25-35 years.
Source:
Angelizd’s Place: Christian Milton Chaote
Chilling letters of Christian Coate, boy kept in dog cage by his parents
Name: Julian Adams-Lacas.
Died: February 2, 2009.
Age at death: 6 months.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Denver, Colorado, USA.
Disability: Bilateral cleft lip and palate.
Details:
Julian’s father killed him by shaking him or smashing his head against the floor.
Case status:
Justin Taylor (Father), child abuse resulting in death, 48 years.
Source:
Julian Adams Lacas
Name: Alexis “Lexie” Agyepong-Glover.
Died: January 7, 2009.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Hypothermia, drowning.
Location: Woodbridge, Virginia, USA.
Disability: Reactive attachment disorder; mother claimed she had autism and sickle-cell anemia.
Details:
Lexie’s adoptive mother abandoned her in a freezing creek, in January. She died of drowning and exposure.
Case status:
Alfreedia Gregg-Glover (Adoptive mother), pled guilty to murder, child abuse, and filing a false police report; sentenced to 26 years.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Alexis “Lexie” Agyepong-Glover
Disabled Girl Described Beatings, Neighbor Says
Lexie Agyepong-Glover — a Tragedy in Plain Sight
Alexis “Lexie” Agyepong-Glover
Mother Indicted In Va. Killing
Name: Jocelynn Allison.
Died: September 24, 2008.
Age at death: 15 months.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Wasilla, Alaska, USA.
Disability: Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, hydrocephalus.
Details:
Because Jocelynn didn’t want to eat and threw food, her father allegedly slapped her, sending her head backward to collide with her high chair. She died of a head injury. At autopsy, she had injuries consistent with long-term abuse and shaken baby syndrome.
Her family remembers, “Any music would cause her to start singing, clapping and dancing, and would send everyone around her into fits of laughter and joy.”
Case status:
Clayton Allison (Father), convicted of second-degree murder; conviction overturned because the trial had not considered Jocelynn’s Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Convicted of negligent homicide at retrial, which carries a maximum penalty of 3 years; released because he had already served that much time.
Source:
Retrial jury clears Wasilla man of murder charge in toddler daughter’s death but finds him guilty of negligent homicide
Jocelynn Renee Allison (2007-2008) – Find A Grave…
Murder conviction overturned for Wasilla man charged with killing 15-month-old daughter
Wasilla man convicted of daughter’s murder denies abuse
Name: Ethan Scott Kirby.
Died: August 23, 2008.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Conroe, Texas, USA.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
Ethan died of a head injury inflicted by his mother’s boyfriend during a beating.
Case status:
Chase Cannon (Mother’s boyfriend), murder, 50 years.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Ethan Scott Kirby
Conroe man receives 50 years for murder of autistic child
Child murderer sentenced
Name: James Many White Horses.
Died: Around July 21, 2008.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Suspicious death.
Location: Great Falls, Montana, USA.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
James’s mother abused him, neglected him, and finally put him in her car trunk and left him there. He was found dead in the trunk over a month later.
Case status:
Summer Many White Horses (Mother), convicted of negligent homicide and tampering with evidence, sentenced to 13 years 9 months to 55 years in prison.
Source:
Mother gets 55 years for son’s death
Autism Memorial: James Many White Horses
Family gathers to remember toddler
James Many White Horses
Many White Horses sentenced on federal fraud charges
Summer Many White Horses’ 2-year-old has been found
Affidavit: Mom of Toddler Found Dead in Trunk Told Police Son Died Accidentally Months Before
Name: Kevin Johnson.
Died: July 20, 2008.
Age at death: 12.
Cause of death: Fatal abuse.
Location: Crete, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.
Details:
Kevin’s foster father physically abused him, and eventually beat him so badly that he was taken to the hospital, unconscious, and died two days later.
His favorite hymn was the gospel song “I Need You To Survive.”
Case Status:
Fred D. Johnson II (Foster father), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 5-17 years.
Source:
Man charged with beating disabled foster child
Crete murderer seeks reduced sentence
Kevin Johnson
Family mourns loss of Crete boy
Name: Lavender Banks.
Died: May 2, 2008.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Asphyxia, blunt trauma.
Location: Elk Grove, California, USA.
Disability: Cleft lip/palate.
Details:
Lavender was beaten and smothered by her adoptive mother.
She was an international adoptee from China.
Case status:
Sabrina Banks (Adoptive mother), pleaded no contest to second-degree murder, sentenced to 15 years to life.
Source:
Lavender Banks