Relationship: Other Relative – Disability Day of Mourning

Melony Granados

No Photo Name: Melony Granados.
Died: January 23, 2025.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Tempe, Arizona, USA.
Disability: Myoclonic atonic epilepsy, intellectual disability.

Details:
Medics responded to Melony’s house to find her unresponsive, covered in bruises and sores. Her grandmother told the doctors that Melony had fallen down the stairs. Melony was taken to the hospital but died the next morning.

Further investigation revealed a makeshift cage made from a bunk bed. Police say her family admitted to keeping Melony in the cage, which was extremely dirty.

Case Status:
Virginia Lujan (Grandmother), charged with felony child abuse.
Jami Hodges (Mother), charged with felony child abuse.

Sources:
Grandmother Charged In Disabled Teen’s Death After 13-Year-Old Was Kept In A Cage
Mother, grandmother arrested in connection to death of 13-year-old girl
Teen with mental age of toddler dies after being forced to live in cage
Grandmother Charged In Disabled Teen’s Death After 13-Year-Old Was Kept In A Cage
Tempe 13-year-old dead after being found in cage; grandmother suspected in death
Police probe caged Tempe teen’s death

DJ McCollum

Name: DJ McCollum.
Died: October 24, 2024.
Age at death: 32.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Severe burn survivor; wheelchair user.

Details:
DJ lived with his adoptive mother, Patricia and Kaydence, his 11-year-old sister. Concerned neighbors called the police, saying an armed man with a knife was in the home. That led to an hours-long standoff, with SWAT teams negotiating, before they were finally able to enter the home. There, they found DJ, his mother, and his 11-year-old sister dead from stab wounds. The suspect, who turned out to DJ’s brother-in-law, had self-inflicted stab wounds, of which he died after he was taken to the hospital. He had a history of arrests for domestic violence.

DJ and Kaydence had been two of Patricia’s many foster children. DJ, who had been severely burned as an infant, became Patricia’s foster son and then, at ten years old, her adopted son. She raised him through childhood and adolescence and watched him accept his high school diploma, walking on prosthetic legs.

Case Status:
Anthony Mathis (brother-in-law), deceased.

Sources:
Ohio foster mom, daughter and disabled son killed in murder-suicide
‘Hero’ foster mom, her daughter and disabled son stabbing victims
Cincinnati foster mom, adopted son killed in triple homicide
Man who stabbed his family to death had recent history of arrests for violence

Nuraina Rosli

Name: Nuraina Humaira Rosli.
Died: August 17, 2024.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Neck injuries.
Location: Sungai Siput, Malaysia.
Disability: Deaf.

Details:
Nuraina, a Primary Four student, went outside to play and was reported missing. The next day, her body was found in a nearby swamp, and a post-mortem determined she had been raped and killed.

Nuraina was one of the Orang Asli, the indigenous population of Peninsular Malaysia.

Case Status:
A 17-year-old boy (close relative, unspecified) has been charged with murder.

Sources:
Teen charged with murder of disabled 10-year-old girl
Teen charged with murder of disabled girl [WATCH]
Missing 10-year-old found dead in Pos Kuala Mu swamp
Teen charged with murder of 10-year-old Orang Asli girl Nuraina Humaira
Ministry to provide support, counselling to Nuraina Humaira’s family, says Nancy

Kinsley James

Name: “Princess” Kinsley Armani James.
Died: May 20, 2024.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Darlington County, South Carolina, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Kinsley’s mother left her with relatives who were supposed to watch her; but they allegedly left her alone, and she left the house, fell into a creek, and drowned. At their bail hearing, Kinsley’s mother told the judge that her relatives had been so inattentive that 45 minutes passed before they even realized the toddler was gone.

Kinsley was a big fan of Cocomelon and loved anything that made music.

Case Status:
Christian Deon James (Uncle), charged with homicide by child abuse.
Nashanti McCollugh (Family member), charged with homicide by child abuse.

Sources:
2 charged in Darlington Co. drowning of nonverbal, autistic 3-year-old child
Caretakers charged after child was left unattended, drowned in nearby creek
‘My child was innocent’: Darlington Co. mom of 3-year-old who drowned demands justice
Autism Memorial: Kinsley James
Princess Kinsley James Obituary | May 20, 2024 | Florence, SC

Dimple Meena

Name: Dimple Meena.
Died: May 20, 2024.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Poisoned.
Location: Hindaun, Rajasthan, India.
Disability: Deaf.

Details:
Dimple was brought in to the hospital with severe burns. She had been doused with gasoline, her family said, by two strange men. After some days, Dimple died; but an autopsy established she had not died from her burns–she had been poisoned. Police believe that, after an argument with her mother, her parents set Dimple on fire, and then forced her to take poison as she lay helpless in her hospital bed.

Case Status:
Karan Singh (Father), charged with murder.
Kamlesh (Mother), charged with murder.
Rajesh Meena (Uncle), charged with murder.

Sources:
Dimple Meena Murder Case: Was the 10-Year-Old Deaf and Mute Girl Killed by Her Parents? Activists Suspect Foul Play, Demand CBI Investigation
Family held for brutal murder of deaf-mute girl

Devassia Kumbukkal

No Photo Name: Devassia Kumbukkal.
Died: May 12, 2024.
Age at death: 76.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Udayagiri, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Disability: Unspecified.

Details:
After a family argument, Devassia’s nephew allegedly attacked him with an axe and a heavy stone, causing fatal head injury.

Case Status:
Shinemon (Nephew), charged with murder.

Sources:
Disabled man hacked to death by nephew in Kannur

Paul Mann

Name: Paul Mann
Died: April 12, 2024.
Age at death: 55.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Kilkivan, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: TBI due to traffic accident; hemiparesis, mild cognitive impairment.

Details:
Paul’s home health worker visited his home and heard a fight going on inside. When police responded to break it up, his nephew allegedly threatened the police with a knife. The officer retreated and tried to negotiate, but eventually resorted to shooting Paul’s nephew once in the torso, disabling him. Inside the home, they found Paul, dead from stab wounds.

Case Status:
James Neale (Nephew), hospitalized for his injuries and charged with murder and assault on a police officer.

Sources:
Horror as uncle is allegedly stabbed to death by his nephew
‘Shocking’ detail after alleged stabber shot
Men involved in alleged fatal stabbing leading to police shooting lived together
Qld Police charge 42-year-old man with murder after Kilkivan stabbing

Baby Chauhan

Photo of a newborn baby, face scrunched up. She is grabbing the hand of an adult. She is wrapped in blankets. Her skin is light-brown. Name: Chauhan (Family name; given name unknown).
Died: March 27, 2024.
Age at death: 4 days.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Disability: Disabled in one leg.

Details:
Kajal Chauhan was recovering in the hospital after giving birth to her first baby daughter. The baby’s grandmother was displeased because the child had a disability in one leg, and because she had wanted a grandson. On the fourth day of her life, Kajal’s mother-in-law took the baby to sleep with her; but the next morning, when Kajal couldn’t find her baby daughter, she grew frightened. When she and her parents finally got the baby back, she was lifeless, and could not be revived. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled to death, and her grandmother confessed to the crime.

Case Status:
Premlata Chouhan (Grandmother), convicted of murder, sentenced to life.

Sources:
Woman Sentenced To Life For Killing Disabled Newborn Granddaughter In Gwalior
Woman kills handicap newborn inside the hospital in Gwalior
Grandmother strangled her 4-day-old granddaughter

Paul Lavery

No Photo Name: Paul Lavery.
Died: January 31, 2024.
Age at death: 58.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Liverpool, England, UK.
Disability: Mobility impaired, agoraphobia.

Details:
Paul had recently had brain surgery and was recovering at home when his nephew, who was caring for him, got drunk and became angry at him about a missing watch. Paul’s nephew choked him, dragged him down the stairs, left him outside on the sidewalk on a stormy night, and mocked him from the upstairs window. When emergency workers arrived, summoned by a concerned neighbor, Paul’s nephew attacked them and was arrested. Paul was taken to the hospital, where he died after two weeks from head injuries received while he was being dragged down the stairs.

Case Status:
Liam Elms (Nephew), sentenced to 14 years in prison and 4 years parole.

Sources:
Liverpool man jailed for killing disabled uncle in drunken rage and attacking emergency workers who came to help him
‘I can’t justify it, what I done. I loved him’
Man charged with murder after victim dies of his injuries

Otis Jones

Photo of an African American man with medium-brown skin, his hair in neat braids, wearing a brown polo shirt. Name: Otis Jones Jr.
Died: January 5, 2024.
Age at death: 44.
Cause of death: Burns.
Location: Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
Disability: Spinal cord injury.

Details:
Otis was pulled out of his burning home by firefighters; but he died from his injuries eight days later. The fire was ruled arson, and Otis’s niece is suspected of setting the fire.

Case Status:
Keechaundra Deshay Cook (Niece), charged with murder.

Sources:
‘They wouldn’t help me’: Mother of paralyzed man who died from fire says she tried to get help for family member responsible
Birmingham woman charged after uncle dies in house fire
Woman charged after brother dies following Birmingham house fire
Man dies after house fire — now his niece is charged with murder, Alabama cops say