28-year-old woman

No PhotoName Unknown.
Died: January 15, 2024.
Age at death: 28.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Saint-Herblain, Nantes, Upper Brittany, France.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
This 28-year-old woman, who had just lost her mother, was killed by her father in a murder-suicide. He left a note stating that he killed her because he did not want her siblings to have to care for her.

Case Status:
Her father, deceased.

Sources:
Un père tue sa fille handicapée de 28 ans puis se suicide près de Nantes
Un homme tourmenté étrangle sa fille handicapée avant de se suicider à Saint-Herblain

11-year-old boy

No PhotoName Unknown.
Died: October 29, 2022.
Age at death: 11.
Cause of death: Stab wounds, head injury.
Location: Marseille, France.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
This 11-year-old boy’s mother told police she had lost sight of him and he had gotten lost; but the next day, his body was found on the banks of a river; he had been murdered. Police, who suspected his mother of killing him, arrested her and soon reported that she had admitted to killing her son because she “couldn’t deal with him anymore”.

Case Status:
His mother, age 39 (Arrested).

Sources:
11-year-old boy
Mum ‘admits killing’ autistic son, 11, after dad found his body on riverbank
12-year-old autistic child found dead in Marseille: mother admits killing him
Enfant autiste de 11 ans tué à Marseille : la mère mise en examen pour “meurtre sur mineur”
Enfant autiste tué à Marseille: la mère mise en examen pour meurtre
Infanticide à Marseille : la mère du garçon de 11 ans mise en examen

7-year-old girl and 6-year-old boy

No PhotoAge at death: 7.

Age at death: 6.

Names Unknown.
Died: November 12, 2011.
Cause of death: Murder-suicide.
Location: Martiguez, France.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
These two siblings were killed by their mother in a murder-suicide.

Case status:
Their mother, deceased.

Source:
Autism Memorial: 6-year-old male, 7-year-old Female, Name Unknown

Pierre Pasquiou

No PhotoName: Pierre Pasquiou.
Died: December 28, 1998.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Saint-Brieuc, France.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Pierre was drowned by his mother; she pushed him off a pier into the Atlantic Ocean.

Case status:
Annie Pasquiou (Mother). Given a three year suspended sentence; served no time.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Pierre Pasquiou
Solomon, A. (2014). Far from the tree: Parents, children and the search for identity. Scribner Classics.
Life with Aspergers: Murdering Disabled People

Frédéric Ratier

No PhotoName: Frédéric Ratier.
Died: November 2, 1987.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Neuroleptic overdose.
Location: France.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, epilepsy.

Details:
32 years after his death, Frédéric’s mother wrote a book in which she confessed to poisoning him with a bottle of neuroleptic medicine. The boy lingered in a coma for three days before dying on his third birthday.

In her book, Frédéric’s mother says she spent the first three years of Frédéric’s life trying to cure him; that lack of support was not a factor; and that she had “given death” to her son because she believed his life was not worth living.

Case Status:
Anne Ratier (Mother), no charges. Statute of limitations on murder in France is 30 years.

Sources:
Anne Ratier
Ratier, A. (2019). J’ai offert la mort à mon fils. City.
“J’ai offert la mort à mon fils” handicapé : le témoignage d’une mère ne passe pas
Anne Ratier a ‘offert la mort à son fils’ : son livre choc