Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Name: Leon Perkins.
Died: December 1, 2023.
Age at death: 66.
Cause of death: Unspecified homicide.
Location: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.
Disability: Chronic illness, wheelchair user.
Details:
Leon was found dead at his home, sitting in his wheelchair. His death was ruled a homicide, and a relative who lived with him to care for him was arrested as the primary suspect.
Case Status:
Charles Parker (Relative), arrested.
Sources:
Silver Spring man charged in death of disabled relative
Name: Eli Ezekiel Riggan.
Died: November 25, 2023.
Age at death: 11.
Cause of death: Pressure sores, sepsis, kidney failure.
Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Disability: Unspecified; mobility impaired.
Details:
Emergency services were summoned to Eli’s home on a call for an unresponsive child, but they found him dead. An autopsy report showed that he had been neglected; the medical examiner found multiple pressure sores that had become septic, causing kidney failure and killing Eli.
Case Status:
Ariel Lea Horn (Mother), charged with first-degree murder and child abuse.
Charles Jackson McClellan Jr. (Mother’s boyfriend), charged with first-degree murder and child abuse.
Sources:
Tucson mom, boyfriend arrested in death of disabled boy, 11
Police: Special needs boy dies from neglect in Tucson
Media Release: Child Abuse Homicide Arrest – 900 Block of E. Limberlost Dr.
Gofundme: 11 year old Eli Riggan’s Funeral Expenses
Name: Aremean Mayo.
Age at death: 93.
Disability: Unspecified/Frail elder.
Name: Michael Willett.
Age at death: 69.
Disability: Wheelchair user, Stroke survivor
Died: November 25, 2023 (Bodies Found).
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Denmark, Maine, USA.
Details:
Michael, his partner, and his partner’s grandmother Aremean shared a household, where Michael’s partner cared for them both. Another of Aremean’s grandchildren grew worried when she couldn’t contact them and their caregiver told her she was “tired of taking care of them both”; so she asked for a welfare check. When police knocked on her door, their caregiver told police that Aremean was in the hospital and Michael was in the woods, hunting. But Michael couldn’t have pushed his wheelchair through the woods, and police quickly determined that Aremean was not in the hospital; so they forced their way into the house, where they found that both of them had been stabbed to death.
Case Status:
Tzara Jones (Michael’s partner, Aremean’s granddaughter), charged with murder.
Sources:
Maine woman accused of killing her partner, elderly grandmother to be arraigned
‘Tired of taking care of them’: Maine caretaker accused of killing her partner, grandmother appears in court
‘Took me by surprise:’ Neighbors shocked as Denmark woman charged with killing 2 people in her care
Name: Victoria Pendergraph.
Died: November 24, 2023 (Body found; died November 19).
Age at death: 9.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Westminster, California, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, non-speaking.
Details:
Victoria’s father, who shared custody with her mother, went to pick her up to spend Thanksgiving together only to find the door locked. Concerned, he requested a welfare check; police found Victoria’s body in the bathtub, where Victoria’s mother had allegedly drowned her several days prior.
Case Status:
Khadiyjah Aliyyah Pendergraph (Mother), charged with murder.
Sources:
Woman arrested at shopping center after officers find 9-year-old daughter dead in home
Body of 9-year-old girl in wheelchair ‘left to rot’ after drowning death, OC DA says; mother charged
Mother charged with murder for allegedly drowning disabled, non-verbal 9-year-old daughter
Woman charged with murder, accused of drowning 9-year-old disabled daughter
Westminster woman charged with killing 9-year-old daughter
California mother charged with murder, accused of drowning 9-year-old disabled daughter
Name: Elizabeth Derozan Clay.
Died: November 24, 2023.
Age at death: 93.
Cause of death: Burns.
Location: Vidalia, Louisiana, USA.
Disability: Dementia.
Details:
Elizabeth, who could not be safely left alone, was allegedly left alone in her home by her son. She tried to use the stove and burned herself severely with cooking oil; five days later she died from second- and third-degree burns.
Case Status:
Junior Derozan (Son), charged with abuse, cruelty to the infirm, abuse and neglect, and negligent homicide.
Sources:
Caregiver’s charges upgraded to negligent homicide after elderly burn patient dies
Elizabeth Derozan Clay
Name: Vivian Norwood Kefauver.
Died: November 17, 2023.
Age at death: 80.
Cause of death: Broken neck.
Location: Houston, Texas, USA.
Disability: Disabled elder.
Details:
Vivian’s daughter is accused of strangling her with a gait belt (a mobility device used to help people stand or transfer from one place to another).
Case Status:
Suzette Annette Kefauver (Daughter), charged with murder.
Sources:
Woman charged with murder claims she was trying to lift 80-year-old mom from ground, records show
Woman charged with murder for allegedly using a gait belt to strangle her 80-year-old mother
Name: Charrie Lea Watkins.
Died: November 8, 2023.
Age at death: 70.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.
Details:
Charrie was strangled to death, allegedly by her longtime boyfriend.
Case Status:
Robert Edward Green II (Boyfriend), charged with second-degree murder and strangulation of a household member.
Sources:
Cheyenne man charged with killing girlfriend, who had Alzheimer’s
Cheyenne Man Accused of Strangling Woman to Death
Cheyenne Man Accused Of Killing Girlfriend Over $36,000
Name: Logan Halstead.
Died: October 29, 2023.
Age at death: 19.
Cause of death: Medical neglect.
Location: Headland, Alabama, USA.
Disability: Spina bifida.
Details:
When Logan’s parents moved out, the new tenants who moved in were horrified to discover Logan’s body hidden in an old freezer in the backyard. Over a week earlier, Logan’s father had called police, allegedly confessing to putting the young man’s body there. The police simply looked in the freezer and did not find the body, but did arrest Logan’s father because he hadn’t shown up to court for a domestic violence charge. Only when the new tenants started emptying the freezer was Logan found. Initially arrested just for corpse abuse, Logan’s parents were eventually charged with manslaughter. Prosecutors say they “recklessly and consciously disregarded the treatment of Logan which resulted in his death.”
Case Status:
Michael Halstead (Father), charged with reckless manslaughter and corpse abuse; died before trial.
Karen Halstead (Mother), charged with reckless manslaughter and corpse abuse.
Sources:
Alabama Man, Awaiting Trial for Death of 19-Year-Old Special Needs Son, Found Dead at Home
Investigator believes couple concealed son’s death to continue receiving government benefits
New homeowners discover body of dead special needs teen in a freezer; parents now charged
Parents of disabled Alabama teen found in backyard freezer charged in his death
Couple charged after son’s decomposed body found in broken freezer
| Name: Ahmad Jackson. Name: Ava Jackson. Died: October 20, 2023. Details: Their loved ones remember Ava as “the talkative one”, and Ahmad as the “quiet observer”. The two were kindergarten students at a local school. Case Status: |
|
Sources:
Special-needs twins, 5, found dead after Florida mom jumps to her death
5-year-old twins found dead in Sanford home after mother jumps to her death, deputies say
Florida mother and 5-year-old twins dead in apparent double murder-suicide, officials say
Twins Found Dead After Mother Died By Suicide Remembered as ‘the Sweetest Kids’
Officials release details on 5-year-old twins found dead after Sanford mom jumped from bridge
Name: Brandon Storie.
Died: October 18, 2023.
Age at death: 33.
Cause of death: Unspecified neglect.
Location: Cortland, New York, USA.
Disability: Muscular dystrophy, schizophrenia.
Details:
Brandon was found dead in his bedroom in a filthy house, and his death ruled a homicide following an autopsy. His father and brothers, who served as caregivers, were charged in the case. In court, Brandon’s caregivers said that he did not want them to keep him or his room clean, that his health had been declining over the course of the last two years, and that he had become unable to shower or keep himself clean and eventually unable to leave his bed. A social worker who offered to help was turned down, and the family refused to call emergency services until Brandon died.
Brandon loved working on computers and playing with RC cars.
Case Status:
David H. Storie (Father), charged with manslaughter and endangering the welfare of an incompetent/physically disabled person; pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Michael S. Storie (Brother), pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of an incompetent/physically disabled person, sentenced to 1 year probation.
and Nicholas A. Storie (Brother), pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of an incompetent/physically disabled person, sentenced to 1 year probation.
Sources:
County Court: Brothers receive probation in connection to death of family member
Father pleads guilty in case involving death of disabled son
Suspicious Death Ruled a Homicide in Cortland – Three Arrested and Charged
Obituary of Brandon Storie
Father, brothers accused of allowing disabled Cortland man to die through extreme neglect
Individual accused of manslaughter released
Central NY father charged with causing son’s death; 2 siblings also arrested
