Main List – Page 2 – Disability Day of Mourning

Helious Griffith

Photo of a toddler with short, light hair against a black background. His head is larger than average. He is smiling. Name: Helious Griffith.
Died: November 7, 2015.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Mesa, Arizona, USA.
Disability: Dystonic cerebral palsy.

Details:
Helious was born on Christmas Eve and named for the Greek god of the sun.

Child protective services had opened a case on Helious. Brought to the hospital, he was thin and having trouble breathing. They were investigating his mother for neglect because Helios had in the past been seen underweight and dirty.

DCS held a meeting and decided that they would file a petition for in-home dependency so that Helious could be monitored closely. Afraid that she would lose custody for good, his mother strangled him with a length of tubing and then shot herself.

Case status:
Lola “Tammy” T. Griffith (Mother), deceased.

Source:
Mesa police identify mother, son in murder-suicide at children’s hospital
5-Year-Old Boy in Mesa Murder-Suicide Found With Ligature Around His Neck, Police Say

Dustin Hicks

Name: Dustin Hicks.
Died: November 5, 2015.
Age at death: 14.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Dawsonville, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Autism, Crohn’s disease.

Details:
Dustin was shot by his mother in a murder-suicide.

Case status:
Nina Hicks (Mother), deceased.

Source:
Autism memorial: Dustin Hicks
Was the murder of Dustin Hicks committed by a biomed mom?
Woman, son dead in apparent Dawson Co. murder-suicide
Dawsonville mother shoots disabled son, self in possible mercy killing

Emily Kaminski

Photo of a teenage girl. She is wearing a jeweled necklace and small, thick glasses, and there is a tiara atop her frizzy blonde hair. Her skin is very fair. She has her mouth open as though she is about to say something. Name: Emily Jean Kaminski.
Died: October 14, 2015.
Age at death: 16.
Cause of death: Prescription drug overdose.
Location: La Mesa, California, USA.
Disability: Multiple disabilities, including blindness.

Details:
Emily’s grandmother gave her a fatal overdose of prescription drugs, then killed herself.

Case status:
Marshelle Marie Newby (Grandmother), deceased.

Source:
Police: California Grandmother Gave Disabled Teen Fatal Overdose in Murder-Suicide

Andrea Lago Ordóñez

Name: Andrea Lago Ordóñez.
Died: October 9, 2015.
Age at death: 12.
Cause of death: Dehydration.
Location: Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Disability: A degenerative neurological condition.

Details:
Andrea’s parents advocated for her feeding tube to be removed. She died of starvation and dehydration after four days without nourishment.

Case status:
Antonio Lago and Estela Ordóñez (Parents); no crime.

Source:
Spanish girl at centre of futile care controversy dies
Terminally ill Galician girl Andrea dies after four days off life support
Parents of terminally ill Galician child fight to take her off life support
‘Andrea está mejor sin la sonda. Durmió de un tirón y muy tranquila’

Jhoel Noria

Photo of a young boy with brown hair and tan skin, smiling; in the background are the walls of a school classroom. Name: Jhoel Noria; also called Jhoel Jesus Gaspar.
Died: September 30, 2015.
Age at death: 12.
Cause of death: Motor vehicle accident.
Location: Trenton, Texas, USA.
Disability: “Special needs”.

Details:
Jhoel died while waiting for the school bus; he walked into the road and was fatally hit by an SUV.

Normally this would have been categorized as an accident, but police investigated and found that Jhoel, whose special needs required supervision, had been completely unsupervised at the time. Suspecting neglect, they removed Jhoel’s three siblings from the home. These three siblings, now able to speak out, told the police that Jhoel’s stepfather and stepbrother had been sexually assaulting all four children. Jhoel’s parents and stepbrother were arrested.

Jhoel liked to play ball and he liked animals, but he had a passion for dancing. He was always showing his family his new dance moves.

Case status:
Pedro Noria (Stepfather), pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14, sentenced to 20 years.
Nelson Rodriguez (Stepbrother), charged with aggravated sexual assault.
Noemi Noria (Mother), convicted of continuous sexual assault of a child, sentenced to 30 years.

Source:
Trenton mom gets 30 years in prison in sex abuse case
Father in Trenton child sexual abuse case gets 20 years in prison
Trenton police investigation into 12-year-old’s death leads to sexual assault arrests
Boy killed in Trenton wreck identified
Jhoel Jesus Gaspar Obituary
Family of boy who died while waiting on a school bus arrested on child abuse charges

John Pehota

Photo of John Pehota, a fair-skinned, balding man in a sports-themed sleeveless shirt and glasses. Name: John “Jack” Pehota.
Died: September 23, 2015.
Age at death: 77.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: The Hammock, Florida, USA.
Disability: Heart condition, mobility impairment.

Details:
John was shot by his wife.

He loved the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing, and collected guns. In 2005, a local newspaper published a letter to the editor that John had written, in which he complained about a recent ban on beach-going vehicles. The ban on vehicles extended to John’s mobility scooter, and because he could not walk to the beach while carrying his fishing tackle, the ban prevented him from going fishing.

John owned a small dog and was often seen walking the dog around his neighborhood.

Case status:
Anna Pehota (Wife), convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced to life without parole, with a mandatory minimum of 25 years.

Source: Anna Pehota, 75, Charged With 2nd-Degree Murder for Shooting Husband in Hammock
“He Kept Pushing Me Mentally”: Anna and John Pehota’s Life Before She Shot Him

Gurneer Chaddha

No Photo
Name: Gurneer Chaddha, also spelled “Gunoor” or “Gurneet”.
Died: September 14, 2015.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Rajouri Garden, West Delhi, India.
Disability: Liver disease, asthma, intellectual disability, from aspiration of amniotic fluid during birth.

Details:
Gurneer’s mother spent a lot of money at private hospitals to try to cure her daughter. She strangled Gurneer before killing herself; in her suicide note, she said that she had killed her daughter because Gurneer’s illness could not be cured.

Case status:
Vidhi Chaddha (Mother), deceased.

Source:
‘Please cremate me along with my daughter’: Heartbroken mother kills her two-year-old girl and herself over child’s serious illness | Daily Mail Online
New Delhi: Woman kills daughter, commits suicide over disease
Delhi woman kills child, self over deadly disease

Albert Vereen

An African-American man in a white T-shirt. Name: Albert Lee Vereen.
Died: August 7, 2015.
Age at death: 63.
Cause of death: Sepsis.
Location: Longs, South Carolina, USA.
Disability: Unspecified; wheelchair user.

Details:
When Albert was admitted to the hospital in poor condition, doctors called police to report neglect. The next day, he died of sepsis from a large, untreated bedsore.

Albert had seven grandchildren.

Case status:
Ronya Green (Daughter), charged with abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult resulting in death.
Albert Vereen Jr. (Son), charged with abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult resulting in death.

Source:
Obituary of Albert Lee Vereen – Longs South Carolina
2 arrested for neglect after father dies from untreated bedsore

Chaitanya Balpande

Photo of Chaitanya Balpande, an adolescent boy wearing a blue polo shirt. He has short black hair and tan skin; there is a spot of red on his forehead. Name: Chaitanya Balpande.
Died: August 5, 2015.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Disability: Cerebral palsy (spastic diplegia).

Details:
Chaitanya’s mother abused him, beating him for limping when he walked, starving him, locking him up, and making him exercise for hours at a time. Chaitanya died of injuries received when his mother beat him with a cricket bat.

Case status:
Rakhi Balpande (Mother), convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, sentenced to 10 years.

Source:
Sessions Court in Pune sentences woman to 10 years in prison for murdering her differently-abled son
13-yr-old was beaten to death with cricket bat he considered lucky

Luc Baeyens

Photo of a middle-aged, balding man with lightly tanned skin, wearing glasses.. Name: Luc Baeyens.
Died: July 29, 2015.
Age at death: 48.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: Tremelo, Flanders, Belgium.
Disability: Down syndrome.

Details:
Luc was smothered by his stepfather.

Case status:
Aloïs De Smedt (Stepfather), convicted of murder, sentenced to 12 years; eligible for release in 3 years.

Source:
Twaalf jaar voor moord op gehandicapte stiefzoon
Tranen maken even Plaats voor Lach op Afscheid Luc Baeyens (48)