Category: Relationship: Offspring

Name: Billy R. Hopson.
Died: June 7, 2020.
Age at death: 94.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Lewiston, Idaho, USA.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.

Details:
Police say Billy’s son suffocated him because he “had no dignity left and he couldn’t watch him any longer.” Billy fought hard to survive, biting his son on the hand and making it impossible for the killer to pretend he had died in his sleep. The killer, hand bleeding and unnerved by Billy’s determination to survive, immediately confessed to his sister and was arrested.

Case status:
Mark L. Hopson (Son), pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and failure to report a death, sentenced to 7 1/2 to 25 years.

Source:
Lewiston man gets 7½ years in prison
Lewiston man pleads guilty in death of his father
Hopson told sister he smothered father
Lewiston man accused of killing his father will stand trial Feb. 1

Name: Kathy Erbelding.
Died: April 30, 2020.
Age at death: 63.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA.
Disability: Legally blind.

Details:
Kathy’s daughter and an unrelated man allegedly stole $700 from her bank account, which they used to buy the gun with which they murdered her.

Kathy liked books on tape, her dog Opie, and crochet. She was a camper and then a counselor at her beloved Camp Onseyawa, a summer camp for children with disabilities.

Case status:
Jacob Lugmayer (Housemate), pleaded guilty to complicity to commit murder, complicity to commit first-degree robbery and abuse of a corpse, sentenced to life.
Krystal A. Erbelding (Daughter), charged with murder, robbery, and abuse of a corpse.

Source:
Plea deal offered to woman for role in mother’s murder
One of two charged in 2020 homicide pleads guilty
Obituary of Kathy J. (Blackburn) Erbelding | Cheney Funeral Home
Amazon’s Alexa may be key witness in clearing Kentucky woman of her mother’s murder, attorneys say
Kentucky police: Man, woman charged with killing blind mother
Hardin County man, woman charged with killing blind mother
Police: Man, woman charged with killing blind mother
Pair charged with murder could face death penalty
Couple charged after ‘shooting woman’s blind mom in the head and taking $700′

Name: James Tate.
Died: January 19, 2020.
Age at death: 74.
Cause of death: Stabbing.
Location: West Town, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Unspecified; used a walker after recent arm and heart surgery.

Details:
James and his wife had told their son that he wasn’t allowed in the house if he was drunk. But his son came home drunk anyway, and when they confronted him about it, his son stabbed him to death and tried to kill his wife, who survived.

Case status:
Michael Tate (Son), convicted of murder and attempted murder; sentenced to 32-35 years.

Source:
Man murdered disabled dad, tried to stab mom in in West Town, prosecutors say