Category: Short sentence

Non-custodial sentences, sentences less than 5 years, acquittals, and similar outcomes

Elsie Crutchley

No PhotoName: Elsie Patricia Crutchley.
Died: February 5, 2007.
Age at death: 77.
Cause of death: Poisoning.
Location: Taumarunui, New Zealand.
Disability: Terminal stomach cancer.

Details:
Elsie was poisoned by her son, with an overdose of painkillers and anxiolytics. She was dead within hours.

Case status:
Ian Crutchley (Son); convicted of attempted murder, sentenced to 6 months probation and 150 hours of community service.

Source:
Man who tried to kill mother avoids jail term
Man guilty of mother’s attempted murder
Man on trial for terminally ill mother’s death

Ulysses Stable

No PhotoName: Ulysses Stable.
Died: November 22, 2006.
Age at death: 12.
Cause of death: Blood loss.
Location: New York City, New York, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Ulysses’s father cut his throat and left him in the bathtub to bleed out.

Case status:
Jose Stable (Father), convicted, sentenced to three-and-a-half years.

Source:
Solomon, A. (2014). Far from the tree: Parents, children and the search for identity. Scribner Classics.
Autism Memorial: Ulysses Stable
Autistic Boy Is Slashed to Death and His Father Is Charged

Sherry Lavery

Photo of a middle-aged woman with curled dark-brown hair, pale skin,and brown eyes; she is wearing a white shirt, gold earrings and necklace, and make-up.Name: Sherry Lavery.
Died: September 27, 2006.
Age at death: 50.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Disability: Depression, alcoholism.

Details:
Sherry’s husband smothered her with a pillow after she told him she believed she would not recover from her alcoholism.

Sherry, a mother and grandmother, had been a political activist and a campaign manager for an MP, and regularly contributed to her local newspaper’s letters page. She loved the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.

Case Status:
Noel Lavery (Husband), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 2 years house arrest, 3 years probation, and community service.

Sources:
Edmonton senior who smothered wife avoids jail | CBC News
Dead woman had alcohol, anti-depressants, in blood | CBC News
Killer of alcoholic wife guilty of manslaughter
Sherry Lavery Obituary (2006) – Edmonton Journal
Trial delayed by technical glitch to resume Friday | CTV News
Mental-health system needs fix

Lakesha Victor

Photo of Lakesha Victor, a girl with a gap-toothed smile. Her head leans against a headrest.Name: Lakesha Victor.
Died: August 20, 2006.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Hinckley, Minnesota, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy.

Details:
Lakesha, who was supposed to be given formula through her feeding tube, was not fed often enough. She lost weight rapidly and soon starved to death.

Case status:
Ludusky Sue Hotchkiss (Mother), pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, sentenced to 32 months.
Ti-Heim Darrien Coston (Caregiver, mother’s boyfriend), charged with neglect, theft, and failure to report.

Source:
Arrest in girl’s starving death
“I didn’t notice. I wish I had.” Hotchkiss pleads guilty to manslaughter in daughter’s death
MN: Lakesha Victor – Disabled, Abused, Neglected, Dead
Autism Memorial: Lakeisha Victor
Mom Starved Disabled Daughter to Death, Say Cops

Kazimiera Hys

No PhotoName: Kazimiera Hys.
Died: May 27, 2006.
Age at death: 76.
Cause of death: Sepsis, infected bedsores.
Location: Woodridge, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Kazimiera was left in her bed without necessary care; she developed severe bedsores, and her daughter did not seek care for her. The bedsores became infected and killed her.

She was an immigrant from Poland who worked as a cleaner.

Case Status:
Agnieszka Alojza Miller (Daughter), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 5 years imprisonment, suspended after 12 months.

Sources:
Mum died with maggots in sores, court told
Daughter let mum ‘rot to death’
R v Miller
R v Miller [2011] QCA 160 | Supreme Court Library Queensland
Agnieszka Alojza Miller’s jail sentence for manslaughter of 76-year-old mother upheld

Casey Axsom

Photo of Casey Axsom, a young adult with short, messy strawberry-blonde hair, wearing a white polo shirt. Casey's mouth is slightly open.Name: Casey Axsom.
Died: May 26, 2006.
Age at death: 25.
Cause of death: Malnutrition.
Location: Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Disability: Epilepsy, cerebral palsy, possible multiple sclerosis.

Details:
Casey’s mother starved her to death. Casey died at age 25, weighing 50 pounds, covered in severe and untreated bedsores.

Case status:
Dorothy Axsom (Mother), pleaded guilty to neglect, sentenced to two years, three months in prison.

Source:
Bloomington woman charged with murder in disabled child’s 2006 death
Police: Mother Starved Disabled Daughter To Death
Bloomington Woman Pleads Guilty Of Starving Her Daughter To Death

Christopher DeGroot

No PhotoName: Christopher Aire DeGroot.
Died: May 19, 2006.
Age at death: 19.
Cause of death: Fire.
Location: Albany, Oregon, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Christopher’s parents locked him in his room and bolted it with a deadbolt. Then they set a fire in their home and left Christopher to burn to death.

Case status:
Nicolaas DeGroot (Father), pleaded no contest to criminally negligent homicide, sentenced to 6 months in jail.
Agnes DeGroot (Mother), pleaded no contest to criminally negligent homicide, sentenced to 6 months in jail.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Christopher DeGroot
Autistic Teen Struggled To Get Out Of Blazing Apartment
Couple Charged with Setting Fire to Kill Autistic Teen Son
Couple sentenced in fire death of autistic son

Graeme Wylie

Photo of an elderly man, balding with gray hair and light skin. He has a thin face, and is looking down. He is wearing a checked shirt.Name: Graeme Wylie.
Died: March 22, 2006.
Age at death: 71.
Cause of death: Barbiturate poisoning.
Location: Cammeray, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.

Details:
Graeme had Alzheimer’s disease. His wife took him to Switzerland, hoping to have him euthanized; but the Swiss doctors told her that Graeme’s dementia was too severe for him to be able to consent to such a thing, and refused her. At the time, Graeme had moderate-to-severe dementia and was unable to remember things like how many children he had or what his birthday was.

Still intent on her husband’s death, Graeme’s wife asked a friend to travel to Mexico and buy her a high dose of a veterinary sedative. She administered this drug to Graeme, killing him.

Graeme’s daughters told reporters that Graeme had never said anything about suicide to them, and pointed out that his wife stood to inherit a large amount in his will when he died.

Graeme was a retired airline pilot.

Case Status:
Shirley Justins (Wife), found guilty of manslaughter, sentenced to 22-30 months of weekend detention.
Caren Jenning (Family friend), found guilty of being an accessory to manslaughter, died before sentencing.

Sources:
Dr Death chose life for Graeme
Woman gave Alzheimer’s husband fatal dose of drugs after Swiss authorities refused legal euthanasia
The death of Graeme Wylie
Graeme Wylie died a lonely death, says daughter.
Euthansia killer Shirley Justin escapes jail

Evelyn Joel

Photo of Evelyn Joel. She is a middle-aged woman with pale skin and graying dark-brown hair and glasses, holding a baby.Name: Evelyn Joel.
Died: January 7, 2006.
Age at death: 59.
Cause of death: Pneumonia.
Location: Enniscorthy, Ireland.
Disability: Multiple sclerosis.

Details:
Evelyn’s health rapidly declined while she was in the care of her family. By the time she was hospitalized with multiple infected bedsores, she was too weak to recover when she caught pneumonia.

Case status:
Eleanor Joel (Daughter) and Jonathan Costen (Daughter’s husband), convicted of manslaughter; given two-year suspended sentence; sentence overturned because the health care workers involved in Evelyn’s care had not been summoned to testify at trial.

Source:
Court quashes couple’s convictions for killing Evelyn Joel
Couple will not face retrial over death of MS sufferer
Court quashes couple’s convictions for killing Evelyn Joel
Couple who left MS sufferer, Evelyn Joel, to die in her own filth receive suspended sentence
Ma neglect killer walk free from court
Appeal by couple convicted of letting MS sufferer die with ‘maggots in her infected bedsores’

Nikolas Chavez III

Black and white photo of Nikolas Chavez, a toddler with wispy, curly blonde hair, wearing a onesie and a puzzled expression.Name: Nikolas Chavez III.
Died: November 30, 2005.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
Disability: Developmental disability.

Details:
Nikolas was beaten to death by his godfather.

Case status:
Robert Knutsen (Godfather); sentenced to 7 years, served 4 years and released.

Source:
Nikolas Tyler Chavez III
Trial begins of N.B. man accused of beating his godson to death