Location: USA – Disability Day of Mourning

Somak Nath

No Photo Name: Somak Nath.
Died: October 22, 2025.
Age at death: 28.
Cause of death: Unspecified abuse and neglect.
Location: Woodlake, Virginia, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Medics were called to Somak’s house to find him in cardiac arrest. He was declared dead at the hospital. His body weighed only 65 pounds, and he had been badly neglected.

When Somak was little, he was a docile, timid child who used to go play on the neighbors’ swing set.

Case Status:
Manisha Nath (Mother), charged with abuse and neglect of a vulnerable adult resulting in death.

Sources:
Autism Memorial: Somak Nath
Chesterfield mother charged in death of 28-year-old son with autism
Chesterfield mother charged in son’s ‘suspicious’ death
Chesterfield mother charged with abuse and neglect after adult son’s death
Mother arrested in death of her 28-year-old son with autism who weighed only 65 pounds, police say

Elliot Perez

No Photo Name: Elliot Perez.
Died: October 19, 2025.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Land O’ Lakes, Florida, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Police officers who interviewed Elliot’s mother after his death say that she told them that when Elliot banged his head against the floor, she tried to restrain him; when the child bit and hit her trying to get away, she allegedly strangled him to death.

Case Status:
Justine Mroz (Mother) is charged with second-degree murder.

Sources:
Autism Memorial: Elliot Perez
Pasco County mother held without bond, accused of killing 6-year-old son
School teacher calls 911 to report she just killed her child, Florida cops say
Police: Florida woman ‘snapped’ before strangling death of 6-year-old autistic son

Katharine Woolums

No Photo Name: Katharine Woolums.
Died: October 16, 2025.
Age at death: 93.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Mesa, Arizona, USA.
Disability: Frail elder; nursing home resident.

Details:
Katharine’s husband shot her just before dying by suicide. When the couple was found by the staff at their assisted-living facility, Katharine still had a pulse and was rushed to the hospital; but she died after she arrived at the hospital.

Case Status:
Jerome Woolums (Husband) is deceased.

Sources:
Police identify husband, wife killed in murder-suicide at Mesa senior group home
Elderly man, woman killed in apparent murder-suicide at Mesa group home: PD
Elderly couple found dead at Arizona senior home in apparent murder-suicide
Husband and wife, ages 92 and 93, die in murder-suicide at senior group home, police say

“S.B.,” 2-year-old boy

No Photo Name: S.B.
Died: October 16, 2025.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Neglect.
Location: Lima, Montana, USA.
Disability: Spina bifida, hydrocephalus, club feet.

Details:
This boy, who is named only by his initials in court documents, was found dead in his home by emergency responders. Police say his mother told them she had kept the toddler in a room and checked on him a few times a day, and that he had died about a month before.

When he died, S.B. had nearly reached his third birthday.

Case Status:
Nichole Boyer (Mother) was charged with deliberate homicide.

Sources:
Lima woman charged with deliberate homicide for death of disabled child
Mother of deceased Lima child pleads not guilty to deliberate homicide
Montana mom pleads not guilty after disabled toddler found dead in pile of laundry
Mom Charged With Homicide After Disabled Toddler Found Decomposed In Filthy Home
Details released after authorities discover deceased child in Lima residence
State of Montana vs. Nichole Lynn Boyer

Jaxson Rantala

Name: Jaxson Jay “JJ” Rantala.
Died: October 16, 2025.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Seattle, Washington, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
JJ’s mother allegedly stabbed him to death. Medical examiners testified that he would have taken about an hour to die from multiple knife wounds.

Case Status:
Joelene Rodriguez (Mother) is charged with murder.

Sources:
Seattle mother charged with murder in killing of autistic 4-year-old son
Mother who admitted killing autistic 4-year-old son held on $5 million bail
Mother suspected of killing son in Seattle’s Roosevelt neighborhood, police say
Neighbors hold vigil for 4-year-old allegedly murdered by mother
Washington woman stabbed 4-year-old son in bathtub, police say
Seattle mom confesses to ‘sacrificing’ 4-year-old autistic son ‘to protect her family’: police
Autism Parents Support Group
Court docs detail injuries inflicted on non-verbal child, allegedly by his mom, before death

Jonathan Kinman

Name: Jonathan Kinman.
Died: October 14, 2025.
Age at death: 26.
Cause of death: Unknown suspicious death.
Location: Burleson, Texas, USA.
Disability: Russell-Silver Syndrome, autism.

Details:
When Jonathan’s stepfather shared news of his death on Facebook, friends and neighbors grew concerned and requested a welfare check. After some investigation, Jonathan’s body was found buried in the backyard. Neighbors told the police that they had never seen the young man outside the house and did not even know he lived there.

Case Status:
December Marie Mitchell (Mother), charged with tampering/fabricating physical evidence with the intent to impair a human corpse.
Jonathan James Mitchell (Stepfather), charged with tampering/fabricating physical evidence with the intent to impair a human corpse.

Sources:
Autism Memorial: Jonathan Kinman
Mom of son buried in North Texas backyard told police he died at a hospital
Neighbors in disbelief after North Texas couple accused of burying son with special needs in Burleson backyard
Burleson couple charged after adult special needs son found buried in backyard
Mom, stepdad accused of burying special-needs son in North Texas backyard
North Texas couple accused of burying son with special needs in Burleson backyard, police say
Their Son with Special Needs Was Found Buried in Yard — and Camera Seemingly Caught Mom Saying, ‘All Me’
Mother, stepfather arrested after police found 26-year-old son buried in backyard
Burleson mom said son died at hospital before his body was found in shallow backyard grave, affidavit reveals

Ana Gutierrez-Cedano

Name: Ana Gutierrez-Cedano.
Died: October 5, 2025.
Age at death: 59.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: West Hempfield Township, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Wheelchair user.

Details:
Ana, her sister, and her autistic son were allegedly attacked by her ex-husband. Ana and her sister died from their wounds; her son survived, but needed emergency surgery for a gunshot wound to the stomach.

Ana is survived by a daughter, who has children of her own and will be taking in her brother, who lost his caregiver when his mother died. The two children who were in the home at the time of the shooting were unhurt.

Case Status:
Santiago Payano-Sanchez (Ex-husband) is charged with two counts of criminal homicide and one count each of attempted criminal homicide, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and possession of an instrument of crime.

Sources:
West Hempfield Township man charged with shooting two people to death
Lancaster County man accused in double homicide previously threatened to kill wife: PFA
‘She loved deeply’: Family mourn grandmother killed in West Hempfield double homicide
Donate to Help the Payano-Gutierrez Family After a Tragic Loss, organized by Tatyana Dejesus

Dennis Recker

No Photo Name: Dennis Recker.
Died: September 12, 2025.
Age at death: 81.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA.
Disability: Frail elder; nursing home resident.

Details:
Dennis was fatally shot at a nursing home. His wife is charged with the crime.

Case Status:
Hariett Kay Recker (Wife) is charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

Sources:
Woman arrested following fatal shooting at Beaufort Co. assisted living facility
82-year-old woman charged with murder after shooting on Hilton Head Island
Elderly woman arrested, charged with murder in Hilton Head Island shooting
Hilton Head Island Murder: Woman Charged
Deputies charge 82-year-old after husband killed at Hilton Head assisted living facility

Renesmay Eutsey

Name: Renesmay Eutsey.
Died: September 4, 2025.
Age at death: 9.
Cause of death: Unknown; possibly untreated burn or blunt trauma.
Location: Dunbar, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
When Renesmay went missing, she was initially assumed to have left her home and become lost by accident; but when her body was found floating in a river, police arrested her adoptive mother and stepmother.

Other children in the home, one of which was hospitalized for signs of abuse and neglect, told police that they had seen their parents kicking Renesmay, and that they had been told Renesmay was going to be taken to “a river far away”. Police also say that Renesmay’s mother told them that she had been burned in the bathtub, and that the burn went untreated and she died from the infection.

Case Status:
Kourtney Eutsey (Adoptive mother) is charged with homicide, child endangerment, abuse of a corpse, evidence tampering, concealing the death of a child and two counts of aggravated assault.
Sarah Shipley (Stepmother) is charged with criminal homicide and conspiracy to commit criminal homicide.

Sources:
Missing girl with intellectual disability from Fayette County found dead
Adoptive mother charged with homicide after missing Dunbar girl found dead in Yough River
DA: Sibling hospitalized, more charges anticipated against caregivers of Renesmay Eutsey
Death of 9-year-old Fayette County girl leaves questions over reporting of child abuse allegations

Bryan Vasquez

Name: Bryan Vasquez.
Died: August 26, 2025.
Age at death: 12.
Cause of death: Blunt force trauma, drowning.
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Disability: Traumatic brain injury; mother claimed autism.

Details:
After Bryan went missing, his body was found in a canal, his death the result of drowning and injuries from an alligator attack. Initially treated as an accidental death, Bryan’s death made authorities suspicious when they looked into his mother’s criminal history: After Bryan, as an infant, had suffered a fractured skull and broken legs, she pleaded guilty to cruelty to juveniles by negligence or neglect.

Police say that even though Bryan had a history of leaving home and getting lost, Bryan’s mother made no attempt to secure the window he climbed out through after the first time he climbed out of it, nor the second time; it was the third time he left the house that he became lost and died.

Case Status:
Hilda Vasquez (Mother) is charged with negligent homicide and second-degree cruelty to juveniles.

Sources:
Mother of 12-Year-Old New Orleans Boy Killed By Alligator was Previously Convicted for Abusing Him
Autism Memorial: Bryan Vasquez
Court records reveal new details about New Orleans mom’s alleged role in death of Bryan Vasquez
Mother charged with negligent homicide after autistic son killed in brutal alligator attack
Mother of 12-year-old boy asks for more time to find attorney after arrest
UPDATE: Mom Charged With Homicide After Autistic Son Found Killed by Alligators
Mom of boy, 12, killed by alligator charged with negligent homicide
Mother of autistic boy, 12, killed in alligator attack charged with homicide