Relationship: Parent – Page 85 – Disability Day of Mourning

Orachanee Anderson

No Photo Name: Orachanee Anderson.
Died: January 15, 1998.
Age at death: 22.
Cause of death: Long-term trauma, starvation.
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Orachanee’s stepfather and mother beat and starved her to death.

Case status:
John Hester, Sr. (Stepfather), found guilty of murder, death sentence, commuted to life in prison.
Peggy Anderson (Mother), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Source:
Father guilty in death of disabled stepchild
Death Penalty archive

Thy Chan

Name: Thy Chan.
Died: August 19, 1997.
Age at death: 16.
Cause of death: Viral encephalitis.
Location: Oxford, Massachusetts, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
Thy (pronounced “tea”) came from Cambodia and lived in a foster home in the United States. Her foster parents were parents in name only; they took in children for the money, sometimes locked them in dog cages, abused and neglected them. Severely disabled children were cared for by other children rather than by their foster parents. Thy’s foster sister Jessica remembers seeing Thy horribly sick with a temperature of 106–something her foster mother, a nurse, would have recognized as serious–for two days before anyone called for an ambulance. Thy died of viral encephalitis in the hospital a few days later.

Thy’s death was put down to natural causes. However, years later when four former foster children came forward to report that they had been physically and sexually abused by their foster parents, they also testified that Thy had died from the same neglect they had all been subjected to.

Case status:
Susan Blouin (Foster mother), charged with indecent assault and battery, nursing license revoked.
Raymond Blouin (Foster father), charged with indecent assault and battery.
Philip Paquette (Susan Blouin’s ex-boyfriend), charged with statutory rape.

Source:
Man arraigned on child rape charges after foster home abuse investigation
Foster child died in troubled Oxford foster home in 1997
New charges issued in foster family abuse case
Former Oxford foster children file $40M lawsuit against couple, state over “house of horrors”

Ronald Blevins

Gravestone for Jean and Ronald Blevins. Name: Ronald Blevins.
Died: February 20, 1997.
Age at death: 52.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: California, USA.
Disability: Disabled, diabetic.

Details:
During an argument over Ronald’s care, his father shot him and his mother, Jean Blevins, to death.

Case status:
Reed Blevins (Father), pleaded to voluntary manslaughter, sentenced to 24 years, 4 months.

Source:
“Do This In Remembrance of Me” Volume 4 Part Two

Matthew Richmond

Name: Matthew Richmond.
Died: January 13, 1997.
Age at death: 12.
Cause of death: Burns.
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Developmental disability.

Details:
Matthew’s mother’s boyfriend held him in a tub of scalding water, and they did not seek medical treatment for twelve hours. He died of third-degree burns thirteen days later.

Case status:
Sharon Richmond (Mother), failing to seek medical care, 5 years.
Richard Joseph Klein (Mother’s boyfriend), child endangerment, 31 years.

Source:
Boy scalded in tub dies

Casey Albury

Black and white photo of a teenage girl with fair skin and shaggy hair cut into bangs; her expression looks puzzled. Name: Casey Janine Huinui Albury.
Died: 1997.
Age at death: 17.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Feilding, New Zealand.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Casey was killed by her mother, who initially took her to a bridge in the hopes that Casey would climb onto it and fall off. When Casey refused, she took her daughter into an alley and strangled her.

Casey liked painting and composing music.

Case status:
Janine Albury-Thomson (Mother), convicted of manslaughter; sentenced to four years; served 15 months.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Casey Albury
Tragic end to life of beauty and misery
Woman who killed autistic daughter jailed for church fire

Andrea Halpin

No Photo Name: Andrea Halpin.
Died: November 21, 1996.
Age at death: 35.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Andrea liked eating out, going to the mall, and getting her hair done. She was in a job training program until her father removed her from it.

She was shot by her father in a murder-suicide.

Case status:
Bernard Halpin (Father), deceased.

Source:
Andrea Halpin Murdered by Father

Christina Corrigan

Portrait photo of Christina Corrigan, a heavyset teenage girl with curly black hair and light-olive skin. Name: Christina Corrigan.
Died: November 19, 1996.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Heart failure.
Location: El Cerrito, California, USA.
Disability: Mobility impairment due to obesity; possible Prader-Willi syndrome.

Details:
Because Christina was gaining weight, her mother took her out of school. Her mother left her on the living room floor and did not take her to see a doctor. Christina gained so much weight that she could not walk, and died from heart failure. She had been badly neglected and was covered with bedsores.

Case status:
Marlene Corrigan (Mother), convicted of misdemeanor child abuse, sentenced to 3 years probation.

Source:
Christina Corrigan
Bedsores Covered 680-Pound Girl, Expert Says

Charles-Antoine Blais

No Photo Name: Charles-Antoine Blais.
Died: November 6, 1996.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Montreal, Canada.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Charles-Antoine was drowned by his mother in her bathtub.

Case status:
Danielle Blais (Mother). Pled guilty to manslaughter, given a 23-month suspended sentence and offered a job at the Autism Society of Montreal. No jail time.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Charles-Antoine Blais
Solomon, A. (2014). Far from the tree: Parents, children and the search for identity. Scribner Classics.
Blais decision brings new concern to the disabled
People with Disabilities Outraged by Murders
History of euthanasia in Canada
Tracy Latimer is dead because her father is a murderer

Robin Appleby

Name: Robin Appleby.
Died: November 5, 1996.
Age at death: 30.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability, epilepsy.

Details:
Robin’s parents kept her in a locked room without a toilet or sufficient food. There, she starved to death.

Case status:
Billy Appleby (Father), convicted of reckless homicide, sentenced to 5-20 years.
Alice Appleby (Mother), convicted of reckless homicide, sentenced to 5-20 years.
Billy Ray Appleby II (Brother), convicted of tampering with evidence, sentenced to 0-5 years.

Source:
Retarded Woman Dies Locked in Bedroom; Abused, Malnourished, Police Say
Robin Appleby’s Parents Deny Guilt; Lawyer says they were “overwhelmed” but cared for her

Katie Baker

No Photo Name: Katie Lynn Baker.
Died: May 28, 1996.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: British Columbia, Canada.
Disability: Rett syndrome.

Details:
Katie’s mother deliberately starved her to death because she believed that Katie did not want to live.

Case status:
Cheryl Baker (Mother). Never charged.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Katie Lynn Baker
Crown Will Not Lay Charges in Death of Katie Lynn Baker
People with Disabilities Outraged by Murders
Remembering…
History of euthanasia in Canada Tracy Latimer is dead because her father is a murderer