Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Parents, foster parents, stepparents, parents’ significant others.
Name: Johnny Churchi.
Died: October 10, 2001.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
Johnny’s mother strangled him.
Case status:
Jadwiga Miskiewicz (Mother); charged with first-degree murder; sentenced to time in a psychiatric hospital.
Source:
Autism memorial: Johnny Churchi
School Struggles To Come To Grips With Johnny’s Death
Name: Megan Lavon McCullar.
Died: September 18, 2001.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Rocky Comfort, Missouri, USA.
Disability: Developmental disability.
Details:
Megan had been removed from her parents’ custody and was living with a foster family she died of massive head trauma, allegedly caused when her high chair was deliberately slammed into a wall. Megan died of shaken baby syndrome, and her foster mother was charged with child abuse, but charges were dropped.
Her foster mother initially claimed that she had not killed Megan; but years later, diagnosed with late-stage cancer, she reportedly confessed to her husband that she had done exactly what they said she had done.
Case status:
Jessica Newhard (Foster mother), charged with second-degree murder. Charges dropped because the case was no longer viable 15 years later and the pathologist who had done the autopsy had died in the meantime.
Source:
Confession leads to murder charges in 15-year-old child death
Charge in 2001 child death dismissed
Missouri trial ordered for woman accused in foster child’s death
Long-dormant shaken baby case moves forward
Missouri Trial Ordered for Accused in Foster Child’s Death
Confession leads to murder charges in 15-year-old child death case
Woman Arrested In 2001 Death Of A 2-Year-Old Girl
Woman charged in 2001 death of Missouri child, 2
Name: Mark Owen Young.
Died: September 17, 2001.
Age at death: 11.
Cause of death: Fall/drowning.
Location: Consett, England, UK.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
Mark was given an overdose of medication by his mother; then she slashed both their wrists, went to a nearby bridge, pushed Mark off, and jumped off after him.
When Mark was five years old, he hated bubbles on the surface of the water in the toilet, and he watched a “Fireman Sam” video repeatedly–but only on rewind.
Case status:
Helen Rogan (Mother), deceased.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Mark Owen Young
Mother killed herself and son
A Mother’s Last, Terrible Act of Love
Despair of mother in fatal leap with son
Name: Sean Hurtt.
Died: June 13, 2001.
Age at death: 14.
Cause of death: Bludgeoned.
Location: Garfield, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
Sean and his mother, Kathy Hairston, were both bludgeoned to death with a hammer by Sean’s stepfather. His stepfather was facing imprisonment for rape, and claimed that he had killed them because no one could take care of them the way he could.
Case status:
Kenneth Hairston (Stepfather). Sentenced to death.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Sean Hurtt
Husband killed wife, son to spare them ordeal of his trial for rape, detective says
Kenneth Hairston Pennsylvania Death Row | My Crime Library
COMMONWEALTH v. HAIRSTON
Name: Matthew Sutton.
Died: April 22, 2001.
Age at death: 28.
Cause of death: Sedative overdose, smothered.
Location: Leonay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Trisomy 13
Details:
Matthew was given a fatal dose of sedative before he was smothered by his parents, who claimed it was “euthanasia”.
Case status:
Margaret Sutton and Raymond Sutton (Parents). Convicted of manslaughter; served no jail time.
Source:
Double death of parents who killed their son Matthew Sutton
Regina v Raymond Douglas Sutton; Regina v Margaret Ellen Sutton [2007] NSWSC 295 (4 April 2007)
Name: Chelsea Craig.
Died: March 19, 2001.
Age at death: 14.
Cause of death: Prescription drug overdose.
Location: Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada.
Disability: Rett syndrome.
Details:
Chelsea was poisoned by her mother with a mix of prescription drugs. At trial, The judge ruled that she was not at fault for Chelsea’s death because of her own history of abuse and because of the “stress caused by Chelsea’s disability”.
Chelsea had a pet bulldog named Penny. She was a freshman in high school.
Case status:
Rachel Capra Craig (Mother). Found not guilty because of a mental disorder; hospitalized; died July 2002.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Chelsea Craig
Mother found not responsible in death of disabled daughter
Murderpedia: Rachel Capra Craig
Inclusion Daily Express: Mother Charged With Poisoning Teenage Daughter
Name: Gabriel Britt.
Died: March 3, 2001.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: St. George, South Carolina, USA.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
Gabriel was suffocated by his father, who put his body in a pond and tried to pretend that Gabriel had accidentally drowned.
Case status:
Terrence Britt (Father); convicted of unlawful conduct toward a child, sentenced to 10 years with all but 4 years suspended.
Renee Britt (Mother); mistrial, no conviction.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Gabriel Britt
Terrence Britt pleads guilty to reduced charge, sentenced to 10 years in prison, mistrial declared in mother’s case
Gabriel Britt’s death now ruled a homicide
Mother, Father charged in death of boy
Judge rules SC no longer has to monitor how Renee Britt cares for her children
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
Name: Logan Marr.
Died: January 31, 2001.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Chelsea, Maine, USA.
Disability: Reactive attachment disorder.
Details:
Logan’s mother taped her into a high chair with duct tape, wrapping her in tape and putting the chair in the basement. There, Logan died of suffocation from the duct tape across her mouth.
Case status:
Sally Schofield (Foster mother), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 17 years, released on probation after 15 years.
Source:
AT Victim — Logan Marr
Logan Marr – Police Interviews With Sally Schofield
Release of central Maine woman convicted in child’s death stirs painful memories
Name: Alex Charles Boucher.
Died: September 25, 2000.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: New Port Richey, Florida, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, medical problems.
Details:
Alex’s adoptive father, angry that he had soiled himself, wrapped him in a blanket so tightly that he choked on his own vomit and died of asphyxiation.
Case status:
James Curtis (Adoptive father), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to “nearly 14 years” in prison.
Source:
Fla. man pleads guilty in state tot’s death
Alex Boucer, 3, Smothered
CHARGE FOUGHT IN CHILD’S DEATH
Alex Charles Boucher