Category: Main List

Names on the main memorial list.

Liam Fee

Photo of a fair-skinned baby with wispy blond hair, wearing a black and white sweater and sitting in front of a brightly colored cloth baby book.Name: Liam Fee, a.k.a. Liam Johnson.
Died: March 22, 2014.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury to heart.
Location: Thornton, Fife, Scotland, UK.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Liam was beaten so badly by his mother and stepmother that his heart burst. They tried to blame his death on his seven-year-old brother, but were later charged with murder. It turned out that they had also abused Liam’s two older brothers, and probably intimidated one of them into falsely confessing to murder.

Case status:
Rachel Fee (Mother), convicted of murder, child abuse and neglect, sentenced to 23-and-a-half years to life.
Nyomi Fee (Stepmother), convicted of murder, child abuse and neglect, sentenced to 24 years.

Source:
Rachel Fee and Nyomi Fee jailed for life for the murder of tragic tot Liam Fee
Autism Memorial: Liam Fee
Mother and partner deny murdering Fife toddler Liam Fee
Lesbian partners found GUILTY of murdering 2-year-old boy subjected to ‘heartless cruelty’ before he died
Gateshead murder accused took toddler out of nursery after concerns raised by social services
New evidence of Liam Fee social work visit weeks before murder

June Lang

No PhotoName: June Lang.
Died: March 16, 2014.
Age at death: 75.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Disability: Blind.

Details:
After June insisted that the couple should move into an assisted living center, her husband shot her to death.

Case status:
Jack Lang (Husband); pleaded guilty to reckless homicide; sentenced to 8 years.

Source:
Police: Man killed wife after 56 years of marriage because she was “nagging” him
Oak Creek man who killed wife of 55 years sentenced to 8 years in prison

Anayah Williams

Photo: An Asian toddler lying on her front, propped up on her arms. She is wearing a purple printed onesie.Name: Anayah Navaeh Williams.
Died: March 15, 2014.
Age at death: 1.
Cause of death: Internal injuries.
Location: Frederick, Maryland, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
Anayah was badly injured from one of her father’s beatings, and her mother did not call for help because her father said Child Protective Services would get involved. Anayah died from her injuries.

There is some evidence that Anayah’s cerebral palsy was actually caused by her father, who hit her when she was an infant, causing a skull fracture. The Maryland legislature later passed “Anayah’s Law”, meant to help prevent children from being returned to abusive parents.

Case status:
Frankie Williams (Father), pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and child abuse, sentenced to 60 years to life in prison.
Stephanie Ramirez Williams (Mother), pled no contest to first-degree child abuse resulting in death; sentenced to 20 years.

Source:
Mother faces 20 years after entering plea in Anayah Williams’ death
Man pleads guilty in high-profile toddler death case
Man gets life for fatally abusing his disabled daughter

Alexa-Marie Quinn

Photo: A fair-skinned, brown-haired girl wearing a pink shirt with a yellow flower, smiling.Name: Alexa-Marie Quinn.
Died: March 12, 2014.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Extreme blunt-force trauma.
Location: Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK.
Disability: Fetal alcohol syndrome.

Details:
Alexa-Marie’s father beat her to death.

Case status:
Carl Wheatley (Father), convicted of murder, sentenced to 21 years to life.

Source:
Alexa-Marie Quinn murder: Councils failed to understand risks
Carl Wheatley denies murder of daughter Alexa-Marie Quinn
Girl, 4, beaten to death by her dad was ‘let down’ by social services

Billy Ray Young

Photo of a gravestone partly buried in sandy dirt. It reads "Billy R. Young, October 18, 1961 to March 11, 2014," and is etched with an image of Jesus with hands outstretched.Name: Billy Ray Young.
Died: March 11, 2014.
Age at death: 52.
Cause of death: Malnutrition.
Location: Belleville, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Physical and mental disability, blindness.

Details:
Billy was allegedly starved to death by his brother and sister-in-law.

Case status:
Richard R. Young (Brother); charged with criminal neglect of a person with a disability.
Elizabeth R. Young (Sister-in-law); convicted of reckless conduct with great bodily harm; sentenced to 1 year.

Source:
Belleville couple charged with neglecting disabled man found dead in home
Couple pleads not guilty in deadly neglect case
Billy Ray Young Obituary (2014) Belleville News-Democrat

Blanche Cowen

No PhotoName: Blanche Effie Cowen.
Died: March 10, 2014.
Age at death: 100.
Cause of death: Starvation, infection.
Location: Rushsylvania, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Elderly disabled.

Details:
Blanche’s daughter was supposed to be caring for her, but instead Blanche was exiled to a filthy trailer behind her daughter’s house. There she stayed with only her developmentally disabled son for company, and he was unable to care for her because of his own disability and health problems. Blanche died of starvation, dehydration, and untreated bedsores. Her son died several months after his mother, from natural causes, at the age of 67.

Case status:
Mary Strawser (Daughter); pled guilty to neglect; sentenced to 18 months, eligible for early release in 30 days.

Source:
Woman pleads guilty in 100-year-old mother’s death

Jean Chamberlain

Photo of an older woman with short, permed, dark-blond hair and light skin, wearing a blouse and neat make-up.Name: Jean Chamberlain.
Died: February 16, 2014.
Age at death: 70.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Ogden, Utah, USA.
Disability: Stroke, brain cancer survivor.

Details:
Jean’s husband put a plastic bag over her head and fed helium into it, suffocating her.

Jean survived brain cancer at age 8 and grew up to work at various jobs, including department store assistant, switchboard operator, and hospital employee. She raised five children and welcomed 25 grandchildren. As a young mother, to help make money to feed her children, she sold encyclopedias and sandals out of her home.

Case status:
Dennis Chamberlain (Husband); pleaded guilty to attempted murder, sentenced to three years to life in prison.

Source:
Obituary for Jean Andersen Chamberlain
Elderly Utah man sentenced to prison in death of ailing wife
The Justice Files: Imprisoned elderly man claims it was assisted suicide not murder

Lucas Braman

Photo of Lucas Braman.Name: Lucas Braman.
Died: February 13, 2014.
Age at death: 23 months.
Cause of death: Unknown; possibly restraint-related.
Location: West Yarmouth, Massachusetts, USA.
Disability: “Autistic-like behaviors”; born addicted to narcotics.

Details:
Lucas was found dead wearing a helmet and wrapped in a weighted blanket much too heavy for him; the autopsy was inconclusive. His caretaker had been abusive in the past.

Case status:
Sheryl Erb (Caregiver), no charges.
Elizabeth Cavallini (Caregiver); charged with child rape, assault and battery on a child, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and intimidation of a witness, juror, police, or court official.

Source:
Barnstable grand jury indicts woman, 29, on child rape and assault charges
Autism Memorial: Lucas Braman
How did Lucas Braman die?
Report details pattern of abuse in toddler’s death
Lucas: Two families, two portrayals of Yarmouth toddler
Grieving mother of tot under DCF watch: ‘I want to know how he died’
More questions than answers in death of 2-year-old on Cape Cod
No resolution in Yarmouth child’s death

Madoc O’Callaghan

Photo of a Korean toddler with a mop of black hair, wearing a blue tank top, looking down at something on the table in front of him.Name: Madoc Hyunsu O’Callaghan (Also spelled Hyeonsu or Hyun-su).
Died: February 3, 2014.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Head injury; blunt trauma.
Location: Damascus, Maryland, USA.
Disability: Hydrocephalus, premature birth, learning difficulties, speech delay.

Details:
Madoc was beaten to death by his adoptive father.

He was an international adoptee from South Korea. At the Daniel School for children with disabilities in Seoul stands a statue of him holding a butterfly. A replica of the statue stands at the Linwood School in Maryland.

Case status:
Brian Patrick O’Callaghan (Adoptive father); pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death, sentenced to 20 years, with 12 years suspended; ordered to serve 8 years and may be released earlier.

Source:
Madoc Hyunsu O’Callaghan
Korean American adoptees furious at light sentence for toddler killer
Former NSA Employee Sentenced for Adopted Son’s Death
Former NSA official sentenced to 12 years in death of adopted son
Former NSA official gets 12 years in death of adopted son
Former NSA Official Sentenced to 12 Years in Death of Adopted Special-Needs Son
U.S. school for disabled children to dedicate statue in memory of S. Korean adoptee
Korean-American Adoptees Dedicate Statue in Memory of Killed Boy

Vincent Phan

No PhotoName: Vincent Phan.
Died: January 30, 2014.
Age at death: 24.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Vincent was shot by his mother, who then killed herself.

Case status:
Thuy Phan (Mother), deceased.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Vincent Phan
Gwinnett Police investigating possible murder/suicide in Lawrenceville
Cops: Woman shoots autistic son, herself in murder-sucide in Gwinnett County
Police: Lawrenceville mother shots autistic son, herself
Police: Mother Kills Autistic Son, Then Herself