Category: Type: Homicide

Death due to the actions of another human being.

Roberta Rybinski

Photo of Roberta Rybinski, a woman with fair skin and blonde hair. She is grinning with her eyes squeezed shut, as though she is laughing at a joke.Name: Roberta A. Rybinski.
Died: March 8, 2016.
Age at death: 51.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Tonawanda, New York, USA.
Disability: Bipolar disorder.

Details:
Roberta, who was living on disability payments due to her bipolar disorder, was abused by her boyfriend. At one point she was able to leave him and get a protection order, but eventually she moved back into his apartment–an apartment to which he held the only key.

Roberta was stabbed to death by her boyfriend.

Case status:
John M. Avent (Boyfriend), convicted of murder, sentenced to 25 years to life.

Source:
Judge tells convicted murderer his 25 years-to-life prison sentence is well-deserved
Jury convicts boyfriend in Tonawanda woman’s murder
Man arrested in connection to Tonawanda murder
Police investigate Town of Tonawanda woman’s death

Ronald McCabe

Photo of Ronald McCabe. He is a middle-aged man wearing glasses and a suit with a rose pinned to the lapel. He has fair skin, dark brown hair and a mustache.Name: Ronald McCabe.
Died: March 7, 2016.
Age at death: 56.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
Disability: Paralysis resulting from severe head injury.

Details:
Ronald was shot by his son, who came to his care home and killed him there.

Before his disability he had worked as a manager at Home Hardware.

Case status:
Adam McCabe (Son), charged with second-degree murder; pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to two years in an alcohol rehab center.

Source:
Ronald McCabe Obituary
Man found dead in long-term care home; 32-year-old charged with murder
Man killed at Kitchener long-term care home
Man, 32, charged with 2nd-degree murder in death at Kitchener care home
Murder charges pending over death at Kitchener care home
Man who killed dad in Kitchener nursing home says he wanted to ‘end his suffering’
Son sentenced to treatment centre after killing his father

Mirella Guth

No PhotoName: Mirella Guth.
Died: March 7, 2016.
Age at death: 64.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Verona, Italy.
Disability: Mobility impaired after stroke.

Details:
Mirella was stabbed to death. Her 37-year-old autistic son Davide was attacked in the same incident; Davide survived, though with serious injuries. Police found a letter allegedly written by Mirella’s husband, which said that he had killed them because caring for his wife and son had become “too much” for him.

Case status:
Giancarlo Righetti (Husband), charged with murder and attempted murder; convicted and sentenced to 13 years 4 months.

Source:
Uccise la moglie e tentò di uccidere il figlio. Condannato a 13 anni e 4 mesi
Woman dead after stabbing by husband
Uccide la moglie inferma, accoltella il figlio autistico e tenta il suicidio
Verona, uccide moglie malata, ferisce il figlio autistico poi tenta il suicidio
Verona, uccise la moglie a coltellate «Ho agito in preda a un raptus»

11-year-old girl

No PhotoName Unknown.
Died: March 3, 2016.
Age at death: 11.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Daegu, South Korea.
Disability: Intellectual disability, physical disability.

Details:
This 11-year-old girl’s mother is charged with having strangled her to death.

Case status:
Her mother, charged with murder.

Source:
Mother on trial for killing disabled daughter
“양육 힘들어”…11세 장애 딸 목졸라 살해한 30대母(종합)
“양육하기 어렵다”…지적장애 딸 목졸라 살해한 어머니 : SBS 뉴스
“양육하기 어렵다”…지적장애 딸 목졸라 살해한 어머니 | 연합뉴스

Tamra Turpin

Photo of Tamra Turpin. She is a young woman with long brown hair and fair skin. She is wearing dark mascara and deep red lipstick.Name: Tamra Turpin.
Died: March 2, 2016.
Age at death: 36.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Disability: Unspecified; she “could not work because of a disability from a car accident in her teens”.

Details:
Tamra, a Missouri native, enjoyed traveling with her boyfriend; she was visiting Mexico when she died. At first her boyfriend said she had died of a seizure, then he claimed she had committed suicide. But medical examiners concluded that she had been strangled.

Case status:
John Loveless (Boyfriend), acquitted of criminal homicide. Civil lawsuit brought and settlement reached.

Source:
Settlement Reached In Civil Lawsuit — Mother Files Petition in Daughter’s Death
U.S. man held in girlfriend’s asphyxiation death at Mexico resort
Boyfriend arrested after Missouri woman found dead in Mexico
Did John Loveless lawyer kill disabled girlfriend Tamra Turpin?
John Loveless & Tamra Turpin: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
John Loveless arrested after disabled girlfriend Tamra Turpin is strangled to death

Henry Mokoshoni

Photo: Two hands, one adult and dark-brown, one child-size and albino, laid across one another on a mound of dirt.
Harry’s twin brother Harrison lays his hand on Harry’s grave.

Name: Henry Mokoshoni; also called “Hari” or “Harry Mockshon”.
Died: February 26, 2016.
Age at death: 9.
Cause of death: Unspecified homicide.
Location: Mpakati, Machinga District, Malawi.
Disability: Albinism.

Details:
When Henry’s uncle took him from his mother’s house, that was the last time he was seen alive. It’s unknown how Henry died because only his head was ever found.

He leaves behind a twin brother named Harrison, who also has albinism, and a mother and stepfather who still mourn his death.

Case status:
Elias Chatha (Uncle), charged with murder.

Source:
Justice delayed isn’t just | The Nation Online
5 facts about albinism in Malawi
Families push for timely justice on albino cases
Malawi Police net murder suspect on albino child
Albino nine-year-old ‘decapitated’ in Malawi as shoot-to-kill policy fails to prevent ritual killings
STILL ON MATTERS OF COMPROMISED SECURITY
Killed for their bones

Maddox Lawrence

Photo of Maddox Lawrence, a baby with fair skin. She is wearing a gray knit jacket with a hood decorated with pink animal ears.Name: Maddox Lawrence.
Died: Three days before February 23, 2016 (Body found).
Age at death: 22 months.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Syracuse, New York, USA.
Disability: Cancer survivor.

Details:
Maddox’s father kidnapped her, beat her to death with a baseball bat, and burned her body. Apparently, he was jealous of all the attention Maddox received while she was being treated for eye cancer.

Case status:
Ryan Lawrence (Father), pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, sentenced to 25 years to life.

Source:
‘They were two kids struggling’: Maddox’s parents were stressed about money, child’s health
A toddler survived cancer. Then her father beat her to death, burned her and tossed her in a creek.
Father killed his 21-month-old who survived cancer ‘because he was jealous of the attention she got’
Jealous dad murdered cancer survivor daughter with baseball bat and burned body after she was showered with attention
Maddox Lawrence murder: Dad battered toddler to death with a baseball bat
NY dad, jealous of the attention his cancer-survivor daughter received, pleads guilty to killing her
>Toddler Survives Cancer, Father Kills Her for Receiving Too Much Attention
Exclusive: In prison, Baby Maddox’s dad and killer faces ultimate question: Why? (video)

Priscilla Edwards

No PhotoName: Priscilla Edwards.
Died: February 21, 2016.
Age at death: 78.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: London, England, UK.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease, partial deafness.

Details:
Priscilla tried to make a cup of tea for her daughter, but she was too frail. Her daughter said she didn’t want the tea; then she strangled Priscilla with a scarf.

Priscilla’s daughter had a history of violence against her and against her own daughter.

Priscilla was a retired midwife.

Case status:
Regina Edwards (Daughter), found guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility, sentenced to 10 years to life, to be served at a secure mental institution.

Source:
Woman who killed mother with scarf ‘was failed by health trust’
Mentally ill woman killed her elderly mother because she thought she looked like a WITCH
London woman who killed mother because she thought she was a ‘witch’ jailed for life
Woman jailed for life after strangling her elderly mother with silk scarf because she ‘looked like a witch’

James Hill

Photo of James Hill, an adult man with black hair and light skin. He is smiling. He has a short goatee and mustache.Name: James Matthew Hill.
Died: February 18, 2016.
Age at death: 33.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Enterprise, Alabama, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
James was murdered by his roommate, who had also been his caregiver. Police say he was bound, blindfolded, and repeatedly stabbed.

Neighbors remember James as “a blessing” who would do anything for others. They often saw him going to a nearby restaurant, where he ate nearly every day.

Case status:
David Montel Cunningham (Caregiver; roommate); pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 40 years.

Source:
Enterprise man arrested in stabbing death
Enterprise man pleads guilty to murdering his roommate

Jeffrey Rak

No PhotoName: Jeffrey Alan Rak.
Died: February 14, 2016.
Age at death: 58.
Cause of death: Trauma in the setting of chronic illness.
Location: Burlington Township, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Alcoholism, epilepsy, COPD, heart disease, cirrhosis, chronic illness.

Details:
Jeffrey’s son hit him in the face; soon thereafter, he died.

Case status:
Daniel Rak (Son), acquitted of murder but convicted of aggravated domestic battery, sentenced to 4 years probation.

Source:
People v. Rak
Burlington Twp. man acquitted of murder gets probation for domestic battery
Attorney: Light ‘bop’ from son didn’t kill Burlington Township man
JEFFREY ALAN RAK DVM’s Memoriam on Daily Herald
Elburn man charged with father’s murder wants statements banned from trial
Prosecutors: Burlington murder suspect’s statements were voluntary
Man charged with killing his father in Burlington Township
Police: Signs of struggle at scene of Burlington Township death