Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Name: Vishal Gaikwad.
Died: October 27, 2015.
Age at death: 19.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Pashan, Pune, India.
Disability: Unspecified physical disability.
Details:
Vishal’s father killed him and his mother (Arati Gaikwad, age 35) with an axe before hanging himself.
Case status:
Raju Laxman Gaikwad (Father), deceased.
Name: Alfonso Rafael Jr.
Died: October 26, 2015.
Age at death: 56.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Westchester, Florida, USA.
Disability: Unspecified; wheelchair user.
Details:
Alfonso Jr. was shot by his father in a murder-suicide.
Case status:
Alfonso Rafael (Father), deceased.
Source:
Father and Son Found Shot to Death in Westchester: Police
Name: Shigeko Igarashi.
Died: October 25, 2015.
Age at death: 67.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Kawaguchi City, Japan.
Disability: Hemiplegia.
Details:
Shigeko was allegedly strangled by her daughter. Police say her daughter admitted to the crime, telling them she had done it because she was tired from looking after her mother.
Case status:
Yuki Igarashi (Daughter), charged with murder.
Source:
Saitama cops arrest woman for strangling her disabled mother
Name: Corey Carpenter.
Died: October 23, 2015.
Age at death: 27.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Blanca, Colorado, USA.
Disability: Fragile X, autism.
Details:
When his father died, Corey inherited his property. His mother sought conservatorship of him and refused all assistance with caring for him.
Corey starved to death when his mother stopped giving him food and water and refused to get him medical help. He weighed only 57 pounds.
Case status:
Carol Carpenter (Mother), convicted of negligence causing death, sentenced to 8 years probation.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Corey Carpenter
Colo. mom arrested after disabled son, 27, dies of malnourishment
Blanca mother resisted getting medical help for son
October trial set in mom charged in son’s death
Starvation death case heads to trial
Mom gets probation in son’s death
Name: Mary Fields.
Died: October 15, 2015.
Age at death: 67.
Cause of death: Stroke.
Location: Youngstown, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Mental illness.
Details:
Mary was neglected by her sister; she died of a stroke, brought on by malnutrition and dehydration.
Case status:
Barb Copeland (Sister), pleaded guilty to failing to provide care for an impaired person. Plea agreement involved seeking mental health treatment.
Source:
Former YPD officer pleads guilty to charges related to sister’s death
Former YPD officer indicted for death of sister
Mary Fields – The Warren Record: Obituaries
Former YPD officer pleads guilty to neglecting disabled sister
Name: Geraldine Joyce Chandler.
Died: October 12, 2015.
Age at death: 84.
Cause of death: Restraint-related.
Location: Cleves, Ohio, USA.
Disability: “Functionally impaired”.
Details:
Geraldine’s caregivers allegedly caused her death; police reports are unclear how, but apparently they restrained or locked her up and failed to provide for her needs.
Case status:
Kimberly Taggart (Caregiver), pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 8 years.
John Reid (Caregiver), guilty of failure to provide for a functionally impaired person, sentenced to 6 years.
Source:
John Reid | Madison Correctional | Ohio Inmates & Offenders
Caregiver sentenced in 84-year-old’s death
2 indicted in abduction, death of woman, 84
Name: Gulpreet Kumari.
Died: October 2, 2015.
Age at death: 12.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Panchkula, Haryana, India.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
Wanting a new life with a new boyfriend, Gulpreet’s mother allegedly decided to kill the autistic twelve-year-old; while Gulpreet’s mother held her down, her mother’s boyfriend strangled her. They said Gulpreet’s death was natural and due to her disability.
On November 29, 2015, Gulpreet’s younger brother Gurjant was reported missing. When his body was found in a field, the victim of a homicide, police investigated Gulpreet’s death too and decided that she and her little brother had both been murdered.
Case status:
Mukesh Kumari (Mother), charged with murder.
Haryana Shekhar (Mother’s boyfriend), charged with murder.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Gulpreet Kumari
Woman kills kids to marry paramour
Police bring accused mother, her paramour from Jind
Woman arrested for murdering son, daughter
Name: Thelma Ruth Hayner.
Died: September 23, 2015.
Age at death: 84.
Cause of death: Heart attack, aggravated by infection from untended pressure sores.
Location: Asheboro, North Carolina, USA.
Disability: Dementia, frail elder.
Details:
Thelma’s son and daughter-in-law allegedly neglected her, leaving her alone at home, locked into her room and in her bed. When she was finally taken to the hospital, doctors discovered multiple severe pressure sores and malnutrition. She died of a heart attack shortly thereafter, her body weakened by infection and poor care.
Case status:
James Hayner (Son), convicted of elder neglect resulting in serious injury and involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 1 year 1 month to 2 years 1 month.
Kathleen Hayner (Daughter-in-law), convicted of elder neglect, sentenced to 10 months to 1 year 9 months.
Source:
State v. Hayner, 840 S.E.2d 539
Couple charged in alleged elder neglect death
Name: Kathryn “Katie” Burroughs.
Died: September 22, 2015.
Age at death: 35.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Barrington, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, intellectual disability.
Details:
Katie’s father suffocated her, then committed suicide.
Katie enjoyed attending summer camp.
Case status:
Harry Burroughs (Father), deceased.
Source:
Barrington father, daughter dead in apparent murder-suicide, coroner says
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