Anja Dewees

No PhotoName: Anja Dewees.
Died: May 20, 2014.
Age at death: 45.
Cause of death: Skull fracture.
Location: Enfield, Connecticut, USA.
Disability: Chronic illness; liver failure; alcoholism.

Details:
Anja was neglected and abused by her husband and caretaker. She died of a particularly vicious beating, weighing only 70 pounds.

Case status:
John Dewees Jr. (Husband), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Source:
Anja Dewees – Thursday, May 22nd, 2014
Enfield Murder Suspect Did Not Want to Change Wife’s Diaper: Police
Enfield man gets 15 years in beating death of chronically ill wife

Krystyna Waszynski

No PhotoName: Krystyna Waszynski.
Died: December 2013; body found May 14, 2014.
Age at death: 86.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA.
Disability: Elderly disabled, “mostly bedridden”.

Details:
Krystyna Wasynski was strangled to death by her son. He did not report the death for several months, afraid of being charged with murder.

Krystyna was the widow of Julian Waszynski, an Auschwitz survivor who died in 2005. She left behind three grandchildren.

Case status:
John Waszynski (Son), charged with murder; found not guilty by reason of insanity, committed to a mental institution.

Source:
Connecticut man not guilty of mother’s murder by reason of insanity
Court Document: Wethersfield Man Confessed To Killing 86-Year-Old Mom
John Waszynski charged with mother’s murder after her body is found in their home
Man charged with murdering mother, living with body
Waszynski, Julian

Magdalena Amunyoko

No PhotoName: Magdalena Nunyango Amunyoko.
Died: May 9, 2014.
Age at death: 26.
Cause of death: Sharp force injury.
Location: Ongwediva, Namibia.
Disability: A “rare condition that restricted her body functions”; speech impediment, wheelchair user.

Details:
Magdalena’s mother allegedly hacked her to death with a panga (a type of machete), and then burned her body.

Case status:
Magdalena’s mother, arrested.

Source:
No right to end another’s life – youth
Teacher Accused Of Barbecuing Disabled Daughter: Report
No right to end another’s life – youth
Teacher kills, burns daughter on braai stand

Kalib Smart

No PhotoName: Kalib Smart.
Died: April 28, 2014.
Age at death: 17.
Cause of death: Pneumonia, bedsores, infection.
Location: Alva, Woods County, Oklahoma, USA.
Disability: Shaken baby syndrome.

Details:
Kalib’s parents neglected him; he died of pneumonia, untreated bedsores, and infection.

Case status:
Twana Smart (Adoptive mother), convicted of child neglect, sentenced to 15 years, with all but 7 years suspended.
Timothy Smart (Adoptive father), convicted of permitting child neglect, given a 10 year deferred sentence.

Source:
Alva couple sentenced in child neglect cases
Review of the Death Kalib Smart
Report released detailing cause of death, injuries to Kalib Smart
Reports on death of handicapped boy, 17, prompts investigation into parents

Mary Myatt

No PhotoName: Mary Myatt.
Died: April 27, 2014.
Age at death: 59.
Cause of death: Massive trauma.
Location: Oneida, New York, USA.
Disability: Cognitive impairment after brain aneurysm.

Details:
Mary’s husband drove her to the train tracks and waited until the train hit them, killing them both.

Mary had worked as a teacher’s aide, medical office receptionist, and manager of a college bookstore. She had two sons and four grandchildren.

Case status:
Earl Myatt Jr. (Husband), deceased.

Source:
Grandparents Killed By Train Ruled Murder-Suicide
NY husband steps in front of train with ill wife, leaves behind a mystery
The love that led a couple to stand in front of a train

Olivia, Ben, and Max Clarence

No Photo
Photo of a small boy with fair hair and pale skin, giggling and waving.
Photo of a small boy with fair hair and pale skin, smiling broadly.

Name: Olivia Clarence.
Age at death: 4.

Name: Ben Clarence.
Age at death: 3.

Name: Max Clarence.
Age at death: 3.

Died: April 22, 2014.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: New Malden, London, UK.
Disability: Spinal muscular atrophy type 2.

Details:
When twins Ben and Max were babies, their mother had requested DNR orders on them and Olivia; later on there were allegations that she had been tampering with their medical equipment, neglecting, and emotionally abusing her children. These allegations were dropped.

Oliva, Ben, and Max were all smothered by their mother when Olivia was four and Ben and Max were three years old.

Case status:
Tania Clarence (mother) pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility, and was hospitalized.

Source:
Woman smothered disabled twin sons before killing their sister, court hears
Was mum who smothered disabled kids ignored by social services because she was middle class?

Baby Boy

No PhotoName Unknown.
Died: April 9, 2014.
Age at death: 5 months.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Connsbrook Avenue, East Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
Disability: None.

Details:
There was no objective evidence that this little boy was disabled, but his mother thought he would be disabled because her older son’s autism meant she had “passed on bad genes”. Sure that the baby boy would grow up to be disabled, she suffocated him.

Case status:
His mother was sentenced to three years of probation.

Source:
Mum who killed baby son freed on probation
Belfast Crown Court told details of mother’s admission to killing her child
Tears in court as details emerge of how Belfast mother killed five-month-old son
Belfast mum cries as she reveals why she killed her baby son
Woman who killed her baby son is freed on probation
Police still questioning mum about bid to smother baby
Autism Memorial: 5-month-old boy

Marvell Patterson

No PhotoName: Marvell Patterson.
Died: April 6, 2014.
Age at death: 11 months.
Cause of death: Probable drowning (Body not found).
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Disability: Perceived disability.

Details:
Marvell’s mother killed him by drowning him in the bathtub. She told police that she didn’t think her son was normal because he refused to sit up and wasn’t walking, and that she couldn’t feel a connection to him.

His mother threw Marvell’s body into the trash; though police searched the landfill, it was never found.

Case status:
Joelle Briana Gaines, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter, sentenced to 4-10 years.

Source:
Woman pleads guilty in death of son whose body was never found
Las Vegas woman charged with killing her baby

Hannah Hoag

No PhotoName: Hannah Hoag.
Died: March 26, 2014.
Age at death: 18 months.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
Disability: Tumor in her trachea.

Details:
Because Hannah had a tumor in her trachea, she had a tube to keep her airway open, and had monitoring equipment to alert family if the tube became dislodged.

Hannah’s mother put her in her crib and turned off the monitoring equipment. The tube was pulled out–either by Hannah or by her mother–and Hannah suffocated.

Case status:
Rebecca Cotes (Adoptive mother), convicted of involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 4 1/2 months in jail.

Source:
Mom accused of manslaughter in toddler’s asphyxiation death wants test of medical equipment
Jury: Wyoming mother guilty in toddler’s death
Woman gets leniency for accidental death of child

Jonathan Samuel

No PhotoName: Jonathan Samuel.
Died: March 24, 2014.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, USA.
Disability: Down syndrome, autism.

Details:
Jonathan’s brother shot him with a shotgun, then killed him with a knife and a machete. He also killed Jonathan’s father, Eldon Samuel Jr.

Jonathan’s brother claimed that it was Jonathan’s autism that caused their father to become addicted to painkillers and hit him, and that that was why he killed his father and brother.

Case status:
Eldon Gale Samuel III (Brother); convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree murder, sentenced to 20 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Jonathan Samuel
Teen confesses to killing family using a machete, guns and knife
Judge in family deaths case says suspect, 14, cited brother’s autism
Coeur D’alene Double Killing Leaves Family Grieving
Jury hears more about brother who was killed
Idaho teen sentenced 20 years in deaths of father, brother