Relationship: Offspring – Page 12 – Disability Day of Mourning

Wilma Melchert

Name: Wilma Melchert.
Died: June 12, 2019.
Age at death: 85.
Cause of death: Morphine overdose.
Location: Gillespie, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Dementia, diabetes.

Details:
Wilma did a lot of volunteer work and was active in her community, went to church and was a member of the Lions Club. Her daughter, Denise, says that her mother “wanted to live.”

Wilma’s daughter-in-law took her home from her nursing home and poisoned her with a morphine overdose.

Case status:
Amy Melchert (Daughter-in-law), pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 5 years.

Source:
Woman sentenced in mother-in-law’s death
Metro East woman sentenced for role in overdose death of mother-in-law
Wood River nurse charged with killing mother-in-law in hospice

Betty Crews

Name: Betty Elouise Crews.
Died: June 7, 2019.
Age at death: 72.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Harriman, Tennessee, USA.
Disability: Disabled elder.

Details:
Betty lived with her daughter and another caretaker. Their lack of care led to her starvation death.

Case status:
Christopher Kennedy, convicted of felony murder; at large.
Evelyn Kennedy (Daughter), convicted of felony murder, sentenced to 51 years to life.

Source:
Convicted murderer at large after Roane County trial
Daughter, one other charged with murder after 72-year-old mother starved to death in Roane County
Daughter charged in starving death of elderly mother
Caretakers charged in starvation death of Roane County woman
Obituary of Betty Elouise Crews | Harriman Location

Frances Kelly

Name: Frances Kelly.
Died: May 29, 2019.
Age at death: 93.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Bartlett, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Frances’s son stabbed her in the back, killing her. At trial, though both sides agreed that Frances’s son had a mental illness, the prosecution argued that his motive had been frustration with his mother’s worsening dementia and that he knew that what he was doing was wrong.

Frances loved playing cribbage. She lived to see the birth of her first great-grandchild.

Case Status:
Edward Mitzelfeld (Son); charged with murder, declared guilty but mentally ill, sentenced to 27 years.

Sources:
Insane or just irked? Bartlett man on trial, accused of killing mother
Bartlett man found guilty but mentally ill in murder of his mother
Bartlett Man Found Guilty But Mentally Ill in the Stabbing Death of his 93-Year-Old Mother

Lillian Walsh

No Photo Name: Lillian Walsh.
Died: March 17, 2019.
Age at death: 94.
Cause of death: Bedsores, poor care.
Location: Ramsbottom, England, UK.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Lilian had been discharged to a care home from the hospital; but her son took her home to his own house. Now solely responsible for her care, he neglected her hygiene and allowed severe bedsores to develop. She died in the hospital after falling out of bed.

Lilian was a retired accountant.

Case Status:
Graham Walsh (Son) pleaded guilty to two charges of ill-treating or neglecting a person who lacks capacity.

Sources:
Woman with dementia ‘must have suffered’ under son’s care ahead of death
Probe as Ramsbottom 95-year-old had ‘unexplained facial bruises’ inquest hears.

Kiyoshi Suzukawa

No Photo Name: Kiyoshi Suzukawa.
Died: March 2, 2019.
Age at death: 81.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.
Disability: Unspecified; disabled elder.

Details:
Police suspect Kiyoshi’s son of strangling him to death. They say he told them that he had done it because caring for his father was stressful and he wanted to put his father out of his misery.

Case status:
Koji Suzukawa (Son), arrested on suspicion of murder.

Source:
46-year-old man kills bedridden father, then tries to kill himself

Mary Fitzgerald

Name: Mary E. Fitzgerald.
Died: February 17, 2019.
Age at death: 85.
Cause of death: Malnutrition, pressure sores.
Location: Rutland City, New York, USA.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Mary had been living under the care of her daughter and grandson. When she was brought to the hospital, she was very thin and badly injured, already dying. To make things even worse, she had to die without pain medication, allegedly because a nurse at the nursing home where she spent her last days stole her morphine.

Mary had worked at a delicatessen and bakery. She had three grandchildren.

Case status:
Marie E. Fitzgerald (Daughter), charged with murder and neglect of a vulnerable adult.
Christopher Preedom (Grandson), charged with murder and neglect of a vulnerable adult.
Dermot J. Hanna (Nurse), charged for fraud and exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

Source:
Daughter and grandson charged with second-degree murder in death of 85-year-old
Mother and son charged with murder of grandmother
Woman and son may face homicide charge for grandmother’s death
Mary E. Fitzgerald

Noeleen Marinovich

Photo: A middle-aged woman with dark hair and light skin, in a soft orange suit, smiling for the camera. Name: Noeleen Ann Marinovich.
Died: February 7, 2019.
Age at death: 59.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Oratia, North Island, New Zealand.
Disability: Bipolar disorder, mobility impaired.

Details:
Noeleen’s son strangled her, then bludgeoned her to death with a hammer.

For her 60th birthday, she wanted to go to Queenstown. Noeleen died at age 59.

Case status:
Martin Marinovich (Son), convicted of murder, sentenced to 14 years to life.

Source:
Inside the senseless murder of a reclusive mother by her only son
Man found guilty of murdering mother with hammer
Son who strangled mother and hit her with a hammer 12 times guilty of murder
Noeleen MARINOVICH’s Notice
Son who strangled mother and beat her with hammer jailed for murder

Keith Theriot

Photo of a middle-aged man with a gray beard and light-brown skin, wearing a camo baseball cap. Name: Keith Theriot.
Died: January 26, 2019.
Age at death: 50.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Ascension Parish, Louisiana, USA.
Disability: Unspecified; disabled veteran.

Details:
Keith had kicked his son out of his trailer, so the son went to live with his girlfriend. Two weeks later, he allegedly killed his girlfriend, her father, and her younger brother before driving to his parents’ house and shooting Keith and his wife Elizabeth. Keith survived long enough to tell police that it was his son who had shot him.

Keith played the guitar.

Case status:
Dakota Theriot (Son), pleaded guilty to five counts of murder, sentenced to life without parole.

Source:
Dakota Theriot pleads guilty in deadly shooting spree; receives life sentence
Dakota Theriot, accused of killing five, faces the death penalty. Coronavirus may delay his trial
Louisiana murder suspect caught at grandma’s Virginia home
‘My babies died for nothing’: Louisiana shooting that killed 5 leaves family broken

Donna Featherstone

Name: Donna Featherstone.
Died: January 25, 2019.
Age at death: 78.
Cause of death: Septic shock, pneumonia.
Location: Pleasant Grove, Utah, USA.
Disability: Mobility impaired.

Details:
Donna was found on her couch, in very poor condition, and the paramedic who took her to the hospital reported that she said had been forced to sit in her own waste and not been moved from the couch for the past two weeks. She was taken to the hospital in poor condition and died the next day from pneumonia and sepsis due to infected pressure sores.

She and her husband had worked as owners and administrators of a nursing home. Her cousin remembers her infectious smile and bubbly personality; getting a hug from her was, she says, “like a huge pillow just enveloping you.” Her hobby was researching her family’s genealogy.

Case status:
Mackey Featherstone (Son), charged with aggravated abuse of an elder adult.

Source:
Donna Jeanne Austin Featherstone (1940-2019)
Police: Pleasant Grove man arrested after leaving mother in deplorable conditions
Donna Jeanne Featherstone – View Obituary & Service Information
Pleasant Grove woman dies after living two weeks in ‘horrendous’ conditions

Sharon McManness

Name: Sharon McManness.
Died: January 23, 2019.
Age at death: 75.
Cause of death: Infected bedsores.
Location: Olanthe, Kansas, USA.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Sharon’s son moved in to care for her, but then moved back out even though she had severe dementia. She needed more care than he provided, and was eventually found dead. She was malnourished and dehydrated and weighed only 58 pounds. An autopsy determined she died from an infection caused by her severe bedsores.

Case status:
Raymond McManness (Son), pleaded no contest to second-degree murder, sentenced to 374 months in prison.

Source:
Find a Grave: Sharon McManness
Man Who Left Demented Mom To Die In Abandoned Home Gets 30 Years In Jail
New Kansas elder abuse law used to charge son with Olathe mom’s murder
Olathe man accused of killing his mother appears in court
Man charged with murder after Olathe woman found dead in home
Son charged in connection with death of 75-year-old mother in Olathe
Olathe woman died weighing 58 pounds; son refused to take her to doctor: charges
Grisly details revealed in Olathe mistreatment case where son is accused of murder in mom’s death
Kansas man charged in death of mother who weighed 58 lbs
Kansas man charged in death of ‘very emaciated’ 58-pound mom
Update: Kansas man charged in death of mother who weighed 58 lbs