Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Part or all of the person’s name is not known.
Age 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
Name Unknown.
Died: November 18, 2010.
Age at death: 6 months.
Cause of death: Drowned.
Location: Sydney, Australia.
Disability: None; mother believed she had dwarfism.
Details:
This baby girl was born without any congenital conditions, but because she had skin tags on her ears, her mother believed her daughter had a disability. She had doctors test her over and over, each time with negative results, but became fixed on the idea that the baby had dwarfism. When a friend told her to stop worrying because it wasn’t cancer, she replied that it would be “better to deal with a terminal illness than to spend a lifetime with a dwarf”.
Her mother drowned the six-month-old girl in the bathtub.
Case status:
Her mother, sentenced to up to 20 years in a mental health institution; found fit to stand trial in August 2016, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Source:
Australian mother sentenced to 20 years jail for drowning 6-month-old child
Mother who killed baby believing she was a dwarf should not be jailed, court told
Mother who drowned her baby after worrying she had dwarfism sentenced to 20 years
NSW mother to face baby’s murder trial
Sydney mother who drowned her baby in the bath found guilty of murder
Sydney woman who drowned her daughter convicted of murder
Mother accused of drowning her baby in a bath
Mother found guilty of murdering baby she believed had a genetic defect
Mother fit to stand trial over baby death
Mother drowned her girl because she thought she had dwarfism
Name: Dominique J.
Died: February 10, 2010.
Age at death: 47.
Cause of death: Wrists and throat cut.
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Disability: Down syndrome.
Details:
Dominique’s mother was afraid that her daughter would need institutional care; so she cut her daughter’s throat and wrists, killing her.
Dominique’s mother reported that her daughter had been assaulted and molested in an institution when she was younger. Dominique was supposed to go live with a sibling when her mother was no longer able to care for her.
Case Status:
Ronnie J. (Mother), convicted of murder, but not given a custodial sentence.
Source:
Ronnie J. toch veroordeeld
Dode vrouw in woning Korte Marnixkade
‘Moeder moet leven’ met de moord op dochter
Vrouw (84) doodde haar gehandicapte dochter: ‘Mijn Dootje is nu veilig’
Dominique Blank – Moordzaken.com
Name: M.E., possibly Michael Egan.
Died: November 22 (?), 2006.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Neglect.
Location: Unknown; possibly Illinois, USA.
Disability: Unknown.
Details:
M. E. was “starved and deprived [of] medical care by his parents”.
Case status:
Unknown.
Name: B. L. (Initials; full name unknown.)
Died: November 26, 2005.
Age at death: 13 months.
Cause of death: Brain damage; shaken baby.
Location: Alberta, Canada.
Disability: Developmental delay.
Details:
B. L. died of shaken baby syndrome, caused by his foster father.
Case status:
His foster father pleaded guilty to manslaughter; he was sentenced to five years, paroled within 2 years.
Source:
Learning from a sad, short life
Name: Betsy H.
Died: January 2, 2005.
Age at death: 51.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Hardenberg, Netherlands.
Disability: Intellectual disability, epilepsy.
Details:
For Betsy’s birthday, family and friends came to visit, but she cried through the afternoon. After the party guests had left, she had an epileptic seizure, during which her mother suffocated her with a pillow. Betsy’s mother confessed to the police afterward, but later claimed that she could not remember what she had done.
Case Status:
Margje H. (Mother), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 21 months in prison less time served.
Source:
Vrouw (80) verdacht van moord op gehandicapte dochter
Tachtigjarige doodde gehandicapte dochter – Blik op de Wereld
ECLI:NL:RBZLY:2005:AT4833, voorheen LJN AT4833, Rechtbank Zwolle-Lelystad, 07/400001-05
Name: “Baby C” (Female).
Died: May 2004.
Age at death: 5 months.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Nelson, New Zealand.
Disability: Lissencephaly.
Details:
When he learned that her diagnosis would cause lifelong severe disability, Baby C’s father smothered her.
Case status:
Her father; charged with manslaughter but acquitted, even though he confessed during the trial.
Name Unknown.
Died: October 9, 2003.
Age at death: 33.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Haifa, Israel.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
This woman was shot by her father in a murder-suicide.
Case status:
Her father, deceased.
Source:
33-year-old female, Name Unknown
Name: E. A. (Initials; full name unknown.)
Died: August 29, 2003.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Pneumonia and pyelonephritis.
Location: Mortdale, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Physical and intellectual disability; likely osteoporosis-pseudoglioma syndrome.
Details:
EA was born disabled, but his parents did not seek medical attention for him because his father did not believe in modern medicine. EA’s neonatal jaundice and cataracts were only treated once child welfare services became involved. His parents did not respond to his failure to thrive, small size, and weakness, believing that God would heal the child without a doctor’s help. At four years old, he was the size of a fifteen-month-old when he died from infections in his lungs and kidneys.
Case Status:
J. A. (Father), charged with manslaughter, died before trial.
H. A. (Mother), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 2 years, suspended for 2 years; released.
Name Unknown.
Died: March 12, 2002.
Age at death: 50s.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Intellectual disability, fronto-temporal dementia.
Details:
This man, whose name was not released, had a life-long intellectual disability, but began needing full-time care in his fifties, so he moved in with his father, his niece, and her baby son. His dementia had become quite severe, resulting in behavioral disinhibition, when he became confused and masturbated in the presence of his niece’s baby. She reacted by beating and kicking him to death.
He was a Vietnam veteran who worked stocking shelves before the dementia forced him to retire.
Case Status:
KMB (Niece), sentenced to 3-7 years.