Short sentence – Page 17 – Disability Day of Mourning

Kenyon Slacks

Name: Kenyon Jakobian Slacks.
Died: June 24, 2014.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Morphine overdose.
Location: Augusta, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Multiple medical problems, including Ohtahara syndrome (rare epilepsy type).

Details:
Kenyon may have died from a morphine overdose administered by his foster mother. However, because his health had been so delicate beforehand, murder could not be proven and his foster mother walked free.

Case status:
Elizabeth Osei (Foster mother), charged with murder, acquitted.

Source:
Parent At Nation’s Leading For-Profit Foster Care Firm Facing Murder Charges
Care-giver indicted on murder charges in child’s overdose death
Murder trial begins in death of disabled foster child
Elizabeth Osei acquitted of murder in foster child case
PHOTOS: Toddler Kenyon Slacks and foster mom Elizabeth Osei
Foster Care news and Updates: Foster mom killed 3-year-old boy with morphine dose

Sayane Kishimoto

Name: Sayane Kishimoto.
Died: June 15, 2014.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Malnutrition.
Location: Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan.
Disability: Congenital myopathy.

Details:
Sayane died from malnutrition. On autopsy, non-food items were found in her stomach, and she weighed half of what she should have.

Case status:
Yuki Kishimoto (Father), convicted of negligence, 18-month suspended sentence.
Her mother, arrested; charges unknown.

Source:
Parents arrested for starving 3-year-old daughter to death
High court overturns ruling on death of disabled child

Kalib Smart

No Photo Name: 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

Olivia, Ben, and Max Clarence

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 Photo Name 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 Photo Name: 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 Photo Name: 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

Harlan Haynes

Photo: An older man with a full gray beard and hair; he is fair-skinned, balding, wearing tinted glasses. Name: Harlan Haynes.
Died: March 12, 2014 (Body found).
Age at death: 96.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: South Kitsap, Washington, USA.
Disability: Unspecified.

Details:
Harlan was neglected by his daughter; he died of starvation.

Case status:
Renee Roberta Nash (Daughter); pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree manslaughter; sentenced to 2 years in prison.

Source:
Caretaker gets 2 years in prison for father’s death
South Kitsap woman jailed on murder charge in father’s death

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 Photo Name: 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