Relationship: Other Relative – Page 6 – Disability Day of Mourning

Sherrell Martin

Name: Sherrell “Bud” Martin.
Died: June 13, 2020.
Age at death: 71.
Cause of death: Trauma.
Location: Wilmington, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Unspecified; used walker.

Details:
According to police, Bud and his ex-sister-law had been arguing for a few days–an argument she ended by beating him around the head with his own walker. Before he died a few hours later, Bud told police who had beaten him.

He was a retired machinist who liked fishing and playing cards.

Case status:
Donna Reynolds (Ex-sister-in-law), convicted of aggravated battery; sentenced to 3 years; released on parole after 1 year 3 months in custody.

Source:
Wilmington Woman Charged With Attacking Disabled Ex-Brother-In-Law Who Later Died
Disabled Man Dies After Attack, Wilmington Woman Arrested: WPD

Louise Smith

Name: Louise Smith.
Died: May 8, 2020.
Age at death: 16.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Havant, Hampshire, England, UK.
Disability: Mental illness.

Details:
Louise’s uncle killed her by punching her in the face repeatedly until she died. Police described the murder as “sexually motivated.”

Case status:
Shane Mays (Uncle), convicted of murder, sentenced to 25 years to life.

Source:
‘A monster’: Uncle jailed for life over 16-year-old’s ‘sexually motivated’ murder
Louise Smith murder: Social workers probed after uncle found guilty
Uncle jailed for life for ‘sexual murder’ of Louise Smith, 16, in woods

8-year-old girl

No Photo Name Unknown.
Died: May 7, 2020.
Age at death: 8.
Cause of death: Internal bleeding due to blunt force injury.
Location: Delhi, India.
Disability: Blind.

Details:
This 8-year-old girl was staying with caregivers when a neighbor called police, saying that her caregivers often beat the girl, and that they had heard her crying over the phone, promising to work harder on her schoolwork. The girl was found unconscious in the home, brought to the hospital, and declared dead on arrival. Her caregivers were arrested.

Case Status:
Khaleed Mohd (Caregiver, relative), charged with murder.
Reena Mohd (Caregiver), charged with murder.

Sources:
Blind couple beats 8-year-old blind girl to death; court frames murder charges – The Kashmir Monitor
Delhi: Court frames murder charges against couple for ‘beating minor blind girl to death’
Blind Couple Charged By Delhi Court For Beating 8-Year-Old Blind Girl To Death – Sentinelassam

Asma Akter

No Photo Name: Asma Akter.
Died: April 26, 2020.
Age at death: 30.
Cause of death: Burns and/or smoke inhalation.
Location: Gazipur, Bangladesh.
Disability: Developmental disability.

Details:
Asma’s family chained her up, then left her alone at home. An electrical fire destroyed the home, killing Asma.

Case status:
Abdul Kader (Family), unknown status.

Source:
Mentally challenged woman burn to death in Gazipur house fire
Bangladesh: Mentally challenged woman charred to death

Damian Scott

No Photo Name: Damian B. Scott.
Died: April 26, 2020.
Age at death: 43.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Bloomingdale, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Blind, unable to walk, unspecified mental disability.

Details:
Scott’s uncle strangled him to death. An autopsy found that Scott had survived at least one previous strangulation attempt.

Case status:
Dominick Taylor (Uncle), convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to 50 years and must serve all of his sentence.

Source:
Man sentenced to 50 years for killing disabled nephew
Bloomingdale man accused of killing disabled nephew back in Illinois
Bond Set At $2M For Bloomingdale Man Charged With First Degree Murder

Gladys Ambert

Name: Gladys Ambert.
Died: April 7, 2020.
Age at death: 27.
Cause of death: Positional asphyxia.
Location: Orlando, Florida, USA.
Disability: Deaf, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability.

Details:
Gladys’s mother abandoned her when she was two years old, but her grandmother took her in and lovingly raised her. At 26 years old, Gladys went to stay with younger relatives–an aunt and two cousins. According to police, her aunt and cousins beat her, tied her up, and kept her in filthy conditions until she died from abuse and neglect and they discarded her body and tried to pretend she had run away from home. Gladys’s body was found on her 27th birthday, and an autopsy concluded that she had suffocated while being restrained, her body compressed too much for her to breathe.

Case status:
Nellie Ambert (Aunt), charged with first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter, aggravated abuse of a disabled person, neglect, and abuse of a disabled person.
Jasmine Ambert (Cousin), charged with neglect and abuse of a disabled person; and Christian Matias (Cousin), charged with fabricating evidence and providing false information to an officer investigating a missing person.

Source:
‘Sheer horror’: 3 relatives arrested in death of woman, 27, who had cerebral palsy, mental capacity of 5-year-old
‘These were disgusting crimes:’ Woman with severe disabilities was abused prior to murder, detectives say
Florida authorities: 3 charged in death of disabled relative
3 family members arrested in connection with death of deaf woman who had cerebral palsy
Disabled woman beaten, forced to defecate on herself by relatives before she was killed and dumped in the woods
Mom And Her Kids Allegedly Beat And Murdered Disabled Relative — Then ‘Discarded Her Like A Piece Of Trash’

James and Janet Samuels and Lachesta Childs

Photo of an older African American man wearing a gray tuxedo and glasses. He is smiling for the camera. His hair is a short fringe on the sides of his head. — James Samuels

Name: James Samuels.
Age at death: 69.
Disability: Leg amputee.

Name: Janet Samuels.
Age at death: 67.
Disability: Unspecified disability.

Name: Lachesta “Shasta” Childs.
Age at death: 47.
Disability: Autism.

Janet Samuels

Died: March 31, 2020.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Macon, Georgia, USA.

Details:
After Janet’s sister’s boyfriend assaulted her sister and Janet tried to intervene, James, Janet, and Shasta were shot by the boyfriend of Janet’s sister, who then proceeded to kidnap his two-year-old son. Janet’s sister escaped to safety; the toddler was rescued unhurt after a police standoff ended in the killer’s arrest.

Janet leaves behind a twin sister; her sister remembers that the two were inseparable until Janet’s death.

Case Status:
Caesar Crockett (Sister’s boyfriend), convicted of three counts of murder and kidnapping, sentenced to life without parole.

Sources:
‘You need to die in the penitentiary’: Macon man convicted of triple murder and kidnapping
Autism Memorial: Lachesta Childs

Ben Thompson

Name: Ben Edward Thompson.
Died: November 3, 2019.
Age at death: 72.
Cause of death: House fire.
Location: Watertown, Tennessee, USA.
Disability: Wheelchair user.

Details:
Ben died in a house fire, unable to escape the house because of his mobility impairment. Authorities suspect his nephew of setting the fire.

Case status:
Christophe Sean Tillison (Nephew), charged with reckless homicide.

Source:
Tennessee man charged in 72-year-old uncle’s fire death
TBI: Nephew charged in fatal fire that killed wheelchair-bound uncle in Wilson County

Aiko Matsubara

No Photo Name: Aiko Matsubara.
Died: October 9, 2019.
Age at death: 90.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.
Disability: Unspecified; disabled elder.

Details:
Police received a phone call from Ms. Matsubara’s granddaughter, saying she had killed her grandmother. When they arrived at her house, they found her dead, killed by having a towel stuffed into her mouth until she suffocated.

Case status:
Akane Matsubara (Granddaughter), charged with murder.

Source:
Woman arrested after stuffing towel into 90-year-old grandmother’s mouth, killing her

Ana Vasquez-Rodriguez

Photo of a middle-aged woman with light-brown skin and straight, brown, shoulder-length hair. Her skin is wrinkled and freckled. The straps of her light-blue top are visible. Name: Ana Vasquez-Rodriguez.
Died: October 6, 2019.
Age at death: 68.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Fall River, Massachusetts, USA.
Disability: Stroke.

Details:
Ana was stabbed in her bed by a teenage relative she was living with. Her disability made it difficult for her to fight back, and she died.

Case Status:
Heavenly Arroyo (Daughter’s boyfriend’s great-niece; household member), sentenced to 19 years to life.

Sources:
Fall River woman, 18, gets life in prison for 2019 killing
Fall River teen sentenced to life for brutal murder