Type: Homicide – Page 62 – Disability Day of Mourning

Hakan Erdem

Photo of a boy with short brown hair, taken at an angle so that he seems to be leaning against the side of the photo. Name: Hakan Erdem.
Died: November 16, 2015.
Age at death: 12.
Cause of death: Throat cut.
Location: Lilburn, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
Hakan’s family is Turkish, and he survived a house fire when he was eight years old.

Hakan’s father cut his throat.

Case status:
Fikri Erdem (Father); found guilty but mentally ill of murder, felony murder and aggravated assault; committed suicide before sentencing.

Source:
Man kills self at Gwinnett jail after conviction in son’s murder
Cops: Lilburn dad admits to killing special needs 12-year-old son

Gloria Reilly

No Photo Name: Gloria Reilly.
Died: November 13, 2015.
Age at death: 69.
Cause of death: Possible homicide.
Location: Geraldton, West Australia, Australia.
Disability: Chronic heart and lung disease.

Details:
Even though he knew Gloria’s fragile health made her more vulnerable to such an attack, Gloria’s son pushed her down and choked her. He claims to have let go of her when she said she couldn’t breathe and then left; but when he returned two hours later, she was dead.

Case status:
Damian Reilly (Son), pleaded guilty to endangering the life of his mother; sentenced to one year in jail, given credit for time served and released. Homicide could not be proven because of how frail Gloria already was.

Source:
Son jailed for attacking mum who then died
Son pleads not guilty over 69yo mum’s death
Son jailed for attacking mum who then died
Son gets 12 months’ jail for bashing mother found dead

Ms. Lin

No Photo
Name: Ms. Lin (Surname; given name unknown).
Died: November 10, 2015.
Age at death: 50.
Cause of death: Burns.
Location: Daya District, Taichung, Taiwan.
Disability: Paralysis due to stroke.

Details:
After she had a stroke, Ms. Lin depended on her daughter to care for her. Complaining that her no one else in her family helped her care for her mother, Ms. Lin’s daughter allegedly took her out to a remote part of the city, doused her with gasoline, set her on fire, and pushed her into a drain. Ms. Lin burned alive.

Case status:
Her daughter, surnamed Lin; charged with murder.

Source:
Daughter detained after mother burned to death
Woman detained for burning mother, throwing her in river

Johnny Richards

Photo of Johnny Richards. He is a middle-aged man with medium-brown skin; he has a receding hairline, and his hair is black and bushy. He has an unkempt, short mustache and beard. Name: Johnny Richards.
Died: November 8, 2015.
Age at death: 63.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Amputee; wheelchair user.

Details:
Johnny’s daughter allegedly stabbed him to death.

Case status:
Shevelle Richards (Daughter), charged with aggravated murder.

Source:
Police: Homicide victim’s daughter charged with aggravated murder

6-year-old girl

No Photo Name Unknown.
Died: October 29, 2015.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
This six-year-old girl’s mother is accused of stabbing her to death. Police say she initially tried to blame the girl’s death on strangers forcing their way into her house. But investigators found out that the girl’s mother had beaten her several times before, and no one had forced their way into her house or stolen anything.

Case status:
Her mother, arrested.

Source:
Police suspect mother in handicapped girl’s murder
Autistic child stabbed to death in Saudi
Autism Memorial: 6-year-old female, name unknown

Shigeko Igarashi

No Photo Name: Shigeko Igarashi.
Died: October 25, 2015.
Age at death: 67.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Kawaguchi City, Japan.
Disability: Hemiplegia.

Details:
Shigeko was allegedly strangled by her daughter. Police say her daughter admitted to the crime, telling them she had done it because she was tired from looking after her mother.

Case status:
Yuki Igarashi (Daughter), charged with murder.

Source:
Saitama cops arrest woman for strangling her disabled mother

Ezekial Castro

Name: Ezekial Castro.
Died: October 23, 2015.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Hypernatremia (salt overdose).
Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Disability: Tetralogy of Fallot (congenital heart defect).

Details:
Ezekial’s mother poisoned him with salt, making him so sick he needed to be hospitalized. Then while he was in the hospital for that, she fed him more salt, and Ezekial died.

Case status:
Ashley Castro (mother), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Source:
Tucson woman sentenced for poisoning her child
Court documents reveal details in 4-year-old boy’s death

Maureen Boyce

Photo of Maureen Boyce, a middle-aged woman with fair skin and straight blonde chin-length hair. She is wearing a fancy sequined dress and silver necklace. Name: Maureen Boyce.
Died: October 22, 2015.
Age at death: 68.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Bipolar disorder, depression.

Details:
Maureen was a socialite and former model who struggled with depression.

She was stabbed to death by her on-again, off-again boyfriend, who claimed it was suicide even though she had been stabbed so hard that the knife pinned her body to the bed where she was found.

Case status:
Thomas Chris Lang (Former partner), convicted of murder, sentenced to 20 years to life; conviction overturned on appeal; convicted of murder on retrial, sentenced to life.

Source:
Doctor jailed over socialite’s murder
Doctor jailed over the stabbing death of his Brisbane socialite lover has the conviction overturned
Brisbane socialite murder conviction quashed
Accused killer ‘depressed’ in weeks before Brisbane socialite’s death, court told
Tensions before socialite’s death, court hears
Son of man accused of murdering Maureen Boyce speaks out
Tensions before Qld socialite death: court
Accused killer close to tears in court
Former lover accused of jealousy killing – 9News
Sarina Russo expected to testify at trial
Socialite Maureen Boyce ‘wanted alleged killer to leave’
Strange coincidence in socialite murder trial
NZ doctor on trial for murder of Australian socialite
Businesswoman Sarina Russo tells court her friend was ‘very happy’ before her death
Socialite ‘happy’ before alleged murder – 9News
Qld jurors quiz socialite’s fatal wounds – 9News
Murder or suicide in society love triangle: Son speaks out to back murder-accused
Knife handle buried in body: murder trial
Lawyers for NZ doctor on murder charge discredit dead woman: ‘How can you rely on anything she says when she is capable of such blatant lies?’
Thomas Lang sentenced to life for murder of socialite Maureen Boyce
‘Maureen suffered all over again’
New Zealand-based doctor Thomas Lang’s chilling call to cops after murder: ‘There’s a knife in her abdomen – it looks self-inflicted’

Simone Mottram

Photo of Simone Mottram, a woman with fair skin and dark-brown hair in a ponytail, wearing a hot-pink shirt; she is smiling and looking down to the left. Name: Simone Mottram.
Died: October 19, 2015.
Age at death: 51.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Inverell, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Mental illness.

Details:
Simone’s son bludgeoned her with a bottle and stabbed her with a kitchen knife.

Case status:
Bradley Craig Mottram (Son), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 13-and-a-half to 18 years.

Source:
‘Troubled’ NSW man jailed for killing mum
Bradley Craig Mottram jailed 13 years for killing mum
Simone Mottram’s murder by her own son still ‘tortures’ her father
‘Totally inadequate’ sentence questioned by relatives as son jailed for killing his mother
Trial tipped in Mottram murder case

James Wilkerson

Photo of a gravestone. It reads: EE3. James Ray Wilkerson. PRC US Navy. Vietnam. Oct 13 1948. Oct 18 2015. We love you Chief Dad. Name: James Ray Wilkerson.
Died: October 18, 2015.
Age at death: 67.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: The Dalles, Oregon, USA.
Disability: Dementia; paraplegic.

Details:
James’s wife went to the veterans’ home where he lived, and stabbed him to death.

James served more than 20 years in the US Navy and was a Vietnam veteran.

Case status:
Esther Wilkerson (Wife), charged with murder, domestic violence, and unlawful use of a weapon; pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 10 years.

Source:
Murder at veterans’ home
Find a Grave: James Ray Wilkerson
Fatal stabbing in TD leads to arrest
Woman who killed disabled husband at veterans’ home gets 10 years in prison