Type: Fatal Neglect – Page 38 – Disability Day of Mourning

E. A.

No Photo Name: E. A. (Initials; full name unknown.)
Died: August 29, 2003.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Pneumonia and pyelonephritis.
Location: Mortdale, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Physical and intellectual disability; likely osteoporosis-pseudoglioma syndrome.

Details:
EA was born disabled, but his parents did not seek medical attention for him because his father did not believe in modern medicine. EA’s neonatal jaundice and cataracts were only treated once child welfare services became involved. His parents did not respond to his failure to thrive, small size, and weakness, believing that God would heal the child without a doctor’s help. At four years old, he was the size of a fifteen-month-old when he died from infections in his lungs and kidneys.

Case Status:
J. A. (Father), charged with manslaughter, died before trial.
H. A. (Mother), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 2 years, suspended for 2 years; released.

Sources:
R v HA
Religious mother admits to son’s death

Eric Bland

No Photo Name: Eric Bland.
Died: February 24, 2003.
Age at death: 38.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Rialto, California, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Eric’s sister and her boyfriend starved him to death.

Case status:
Delores Johnson (Sister); sentenced to 15 years to life.
Willie Brown (Sister’s boyfriend); sentenced to 18 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Eric Bland
Rialto woman sentenced in kin’s death
Varying Degrees of Disgust
Life with Aspergers: Murdering Disabled People

Christopher Forder

Photo of Christopher Forder, a young boy with olive skin and black hair, smiling. Name: Christopher Forder.
Died: November 22, 2002.
Age at death: 8.
Cause of death: Pneumonia.
Location: Seabeck, Washington, USA.
Disability: Reactive attachment disorder.

Details:
Christopher died of untreated pneumonia. He had been beaten and starved by his adoptive mother.

Case status:
Kimberly Ann Forder (Adoptive mother), pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, sentenced to 27 months in prison.

Source:
Christopher Forder

Gloria Sam

Name: Gloria Thomas Sam.
Died: May 8, 2002.
Age at death: 9 months.
Cause of death: Infection.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Chronic eczema.

Details:
Gloria had eczema, a skin condition that needed treatment; but her father, a homeopath, refused to take her to the doctor. They took the sick little girl with them to India and delayed her treatment because they were jet-lagged. By the time she was finally taken to the hospital, her skin had deteriorated to the point that an infection had taken over her body, and she died three days later.

Case Status:
Thomas Sam (Father), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 6 to 8 years, banned from practicing homeopathy.
Majnu Sam (Mother), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 4 years to 5 years 4 months.

Sources:
Parents put social life before baby
Parents jailed over baby’s death
Baby Gloria’s parents jailed

Brahim Dukes

No Photo Name: Brahim Dukes.
Died: December 29, 2001.
Age at death: 18.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
When Brahim’s father was jailed for unpaid traffic tickets, he was left with his stepmother, under whose care Brahim starved to death.

Case status:
Audrey McDaniels (Stepmother); convicted of third degree murder; conviction was later reversed due to violation of double jeopardy rule, and she was released.

Source:
COM. v. McDANIELS | 886 A.2d 682 (2005) | a2d68231489
Autism Memorial: Brahim Dukes
Audrey McDaniels v. Winstead, et al.

Amanda Bates

A temporary plaque marking a grave: "Amanda Lois Bates, 1987-2001." Name: Amanda Bates.
Died: February 5, 2001.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Diabetic ketoacidosis, gangrene.
Location: Grand Junction, Colorado, USA.
Disability: Juvenile diabetes.

Details:
Amanda’s juvenile diabetes was left untreated. She died of a combination of diabetic ketoacidosis and a gangrenous infection.

Case status:
Colleen Bates (Mother), pleaded guilty to negligent homicide, given 20 years of probation.
Randy Bates (Father), pleaded guilty to negligent homicide, given 20 years of probation.

Source:
Amanda Bates
Colo. Girl’s Diabetes Death Ruled Homicide
Parents May Be Charged in Girl’s Death | WWRN – World-wide Religious News
No jail for parents in daughter’s death
Faith-healing: No defense against child abuse

Joyce George

Name: Joyce May George.
Died: April 24, 2000.
Age at death: 86.
Cause of death: Pneumonia secondary to malnutrition and pressure sores.
Location: Windsor, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Osteoporosis, hyperthyroidism, atrial fibrillation, chronic constipation, depression and mild dementia.

Details:
Joyce was left in place on her bed, allowing large pressure sores to develop and become infected. By the time her son and main caregiver called medics, she was malnourished and dehydrated and her condition was too poor to survive; she died 4 days later in the hospital.

Case Status:
Phillip George (Son), found guilty of manslaughter by criminal negligence, sentenced to 2-3 years.

Sources:
R v George [2004] NSWCCA 247 (19 August 2004)

Tausha Lanham

A photo of Tausha Lanham, a toddler with pale skin and fine ginger hair. Name: Tausha Lee Lanham.
Died: April 19, 1998.
Age at death: 7.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Burgettstown, Washington County, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Prematurity, developmental delays.

Details:
Tausha’s mother kept her restrained and starved her to death. She was seven years old, but weighed less than twelve pounds, when she died.

Case status:
Michelle Tharp (Mother), first-degree murder, death sentence.

Source:
Under a rock, near some water
Michelle Tharp’s attorneys say she should not face death for starving daughter
Michelle Tharp | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

Thy Chan

Name: Thy Chan.
Died: August 19, 1997.
Age at death: 16.
Cause of death: Viral encephalitis.
Location: Oxford, Massachusetts, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
Thy (pronounced “tea”) came from Cambodia and lived in a foster home in the United States. Her foster parents were parents in name only; they took in children for the money, sometimes locked them in dog cages, abused and neglected them. Severely disabled children were cared for by other children rather than by their foster parents. Thy’s foster sister Jessica remembers seeing Thy horribly sick with a temperature of 106–something her foster mother, a nurse, would have recognized as serious–for two days before anyone called for an ambulance. Thy died of viral encephalitis in the hospital a few days later.

Thy’s death was put down to natural causes. However, years later when four former foster children came forward to report that they had been physically and sexually abused by their foster parents, they also testified that Thy had died from the same neglect they had all been subjected to.

Case status:
Susan Blouin (Foster mother), charged with indecent assault and battery, nursing license revoked.
Raymond Blouin (Foster father), charged with indecent assault and battery.
Philip Paquette (Susan Blouin’s ex-boyfriend), charged with statutory rape.

Source:
Man arraigned on child rape charges after foster home abuse investigation
Foster child died in troubled Oxford foster home in 1997
New charges issued in foster family abuse case
Former Oxford foster children file $40M lawsuit against couple, state over “house of horrors”

Christina Corrigan

Portrait photo of Christina Corrigan, a heavyset teenage girl with curly black hair and light-olive skin. Name: Christina Corrigan.
Died: November 19, 1996.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Heart failure.
Location: El Cerrito, California, USA.
Disability: Mobility impairment due to obesity; possible Prader-Willi syndrome.

Details:
Because Christina was gaining weight, her mother took her out of school. Her mother left her on the living room floor and did not take her to see a doctor. Christina gained so much weight that she could not walk, and died from heart failure. She had been badly neglected and was covered with bedsores.

Case status:
Marlene Corrigan (Mother), convicted of misdemeanor child abuse, sentenced to 3 years probation.

Source:
Christina Corrigan
Bedsores Covered 680-Pound Girl, Expert Says