Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Parents, foster parents, stepparents, parents’ significant others.
Name: Cory Watts.
Died: July 10, 1985.
Age at death: 22.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
Disability: Head injury from motorcycle accident.
Details:
After Cory’s mother lost a $10-million lawsuit against the company that made the helmet Cory had been wearing during his motorcycle accident, she went home, shot Cory to death, and killed herself.
Case status:
Cordelia Watts (Mother), deceased.
Source:
Lawsuit Lost, Mother Kills Son
Name: John Robles.
Died: January 19, 1985.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: El Cajon, California, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.
Details:
John had spent time in foster care, but was returned to his mother. In the end, he was smothered by his mother, who had gotten away with killing his brother Matthew five years before. John’s death was thought to be natural until his mother went to the police and confessed to both murders.
Case status:
Debra Sue Robles (Mother); confessed to murder; sentenced to 30 years to life.
Source:
An American Tragedy: Mother Kills 2 Children as System Fails
Woman Held in Deaths of Her Disabled Sons
Name: Paula Eloise Riffe.
Died: December 17, 1984.
Age at death: 42.
Cause of death: Homicide.
Location: Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, USA.
Disability: Unspecified.
Details:
Paula’s father killed her in a murder-suicide because he didn’t know what would happen to her after he died.
Case status:
Paul Riffe (Father), deceased.
Source:
Paula Eloise Riffe
Misplaced Mercy
Name: Louise Brown.
Died: May 28, 1984.
Age at death: 14 days.
Cause of death: Homicide.
Location: London, England, UK.
Disability: Down syndrome.
Details:
Louise’s father told police that Louise had been in the family car when it was stolen. When the truth emerged, it was found that Louise had been killed by her father because he could not accept her disability, and her uncle had helped get rid of the body.
Case status:
Paul Brown (Father), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 5 years, served less than 2.
Ian Brown (Uncle), served 9 months in jail for helping dispose of Louise’s body.
Source:
Killer Dad Jailed for Murder of Brother; Daughter was first victim.
Name: Baby McKay (Never named).
Died: June 18, 1983.
Age at death: Newborn.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Harvey, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Trisomy 13 (Possibly).
Details:
When Baby McKay’s father saw his son’s cleft palate and webbed fingers and had it explained that the baby might have Trisomy 13, he bashed the infant’s head against the delivery room floor, killing him.
Case status:
Daniel McKay (Father). Charged with murder. Case dismissed after two hung juries.
Name: Katonya Jackson.
Died: 1983.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Untreated epilepsy.
Location: Micanopy, Florida, USA.
Disability: Epilepsy.
Details:
Katonya’s mother was in a cult called the House of Prayer, and gave her and her brother to the pastor of the church to care for.
Katonya had seizures, which the pastor took to mean that she had the devil in her. Katonya’s family says she starved and beat Katonya and refused to give her her epilepsy medication.
Katonya died, covered in bruises, from untreated epilepsy. Her death was ruled “preventable”.
Case status:
Lea Vera Jackson (Mother), arrested and released without charges.
Anna Young (House of Prayer pastor), convicted of child abuse in the case of Nikki Nickelson; served six months; convicted of manslaughter, in the case of Katonya Jackson, sentenced to 15 years; convicted of first-degree murder of Eamon “Moses” Harper, sentenced to 30 years concurrent with the manslaughter sentence.
Source:
Cult leader’s daughter gives an inside look at the House of Prayer
Anna Young gets 30 years in toddler’s death
Death, abuse and questions — life in an Alachua County cult
House of Prayer residents say torture, abuse was common
Survivors ask: Why did cult misdeeds go by ‘wayside’?
Mother Anna: The Cult Leader Suspected of Torture and Murder
Name: Michelle Sandor.
Age at death: 14.
Name: Scott Sandor.
Age at death: 11.
Died: September 3, 1982.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Greenwich, Connecticut, USA.
Disability: Marfan syndrome.
Details:
Scott and Michelle Sandor were shot by their mother, who then shot herself. Their mother also had Marfan syndrome.
Case status:
Linda V. Sandor, deceased.
Name: Steven Paul Hughes.
Died: June 1, 1982.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Pneumonia.
Location: Boise, Idaho, USA.
Disability: Spina bifida.
Details:
Steven was born with spina bifida, but his parents didn’t take him to see a doctor because they didn’t believe in doctors. He didn’t get a wheelchair and had to drag himself around on his forearms instead.
Steven died of untreated pneumonia shortly before his third birthday.
Case status:
William Hughes (Father) and his mother, no crime because denying children medical treatment on religious grounds is legal in Idaho.
Source:
These Coffins Represent Kids Who Died Because Their Parents Were Faith-Healers
Idahoans protest faith healing exemptions in Boise
183 Coffins For Idaho Children Killed By Faith Healing Parents
Hundreds March for Repeal of Idaho’s Faith Healing Exemptions
Steven Paul Hughes (1979-1982) – Find A Grave
In Idaho, medical-care exemptions for faith healing come under fire
Name: “Baby Doe”, Anonymous Male.
Died: April 15, 1982.
Age at death: 6 days.
Cause of death: Starvation, pneumonia.
Location: Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Disability: Down syndrome.
Details:
Baby Doe was born with Down syndrome and an esophageal atresia, which untreated would result in death, but could be treated surgically with a 90% success rate. Advised by their doctor that the baby would have an intellectual disability, Baby Doe’s parents decided not to proceed with surgery. The hospital staff tried to have the court appoint a guardian for Baby Doe, to override the parents’ decision; but the court denied them. Baby Doe died six days later of starvation and pneumonia from aspirated stomach acid.
Case status:
Parents; Walter Owens (Doctor). No crime.
Source:
Baby Doe Law
Name: James Allen Lloyd.
Died: November 23, 1981.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Shadow Creek, Kentucky, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.
Details:
After hearing that James might not be able to go to kindergarten because he was “slow”, James’s mother put him in the bathtub and shot him dead.
Case status:
Caroline Lloyd (Mother), convicted of murder.