Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Parents, foster parents, stepparents, parents’ significant others.
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 CanadaTracy Latimer is dead because her father is a murderer
Name: Brenda Kay Thomas.
Died: April 9, 1996.
Age at death: 22.
Cause of death: Head injury, pneumonia.
Location: Sand Springs, Oklahoma, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.
Details:
Brenda’s mother abused and starved her; she died of a combination of head injury and pneumonia when her 36-pound body finally succumbed to her mother’s mistreatment.
Case status:
Eva Nell Thomas (Mother), convicted of second-degree manslaughter, sentenced to 2 years in prison.
Source:
Woman Held in Daughter’s Death
Name: Sandra Blair.
Age at death: 36.
Disability: Injury from a car accident.
Name: Justin Blair.
Age at death: 8.
Disability: Cerebral palsy; blindness.
Died: March 11, 1996.
Cause of death: Bludgeoned with hammer.
Location: Concord, New Hampshire, USA.
Details:
Sandra and Justin, mother and son, were killed by Sandra’s husband, Justin’s father, who bludgeoned them with a hammer.
Case status:
Robert Blair (Father); convicted of murder; sentenced to two consecutive life terms.