Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Name: Lloyd Yarbrough.
Died: May 27, 2009.
Age at death: 62.
Cause of death: Prescription drug overdose.
Location: Austin, Texas, USA.
Disability: Brain injury from encephalitis.
Details:
Lloyd’s wife poisoned him with a prescription drug overdose.
Case status:
Kim Yarbrough (Wife); pled guilty to injury to a disabled person; sentenced to 10 years probation and 400 hours of community service.
Source:
After ending husband’s life, woman tries to go on with hers
Name: Cynthia Burns.
Died: April 27, 2009.
Age at death: 58.
Cause of death: Pneumonia.
Location: Wylie, Texas, USA.
Disability: Paralysis due to stroke.
Details:
Cynthia’s daughter and son-in-law denied her food and medical care. She died of pneumonia, her body too weak from neglect to survive the illness.
Case status:
Christina Gaines (Daughter), knowingly causing serious bodily injury to a disabled person, 12 years.
Gary Gaines, recklessly causing serious bodily injury to a disabled person, 6 months in jail and community service.
Source:
Wylie woman gets 12 years for mother’s death in ‘extraordinarily terrible’ neglect case
Woman abused disabled mother to the point she ‘resembled a Holocaust victim’ and died
Name: Faheem Mohamed Farook.
Died: April 24, 2009.
Age at death: 7.
Cause of death: Fall.
Location: Singapore.
Disability: Asperger syndrome.
Details:
Faheem and his parents moved to Singapore from India when he was just a year old; at five, Faheem was diagnosed with autism, and his parents were “troubled by his condition”.
When he was seven, his father pushed him out a high-rise window and jumped out after him.
Case status:
Mohamed Farook (Father), deceased.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Faheem Farook
Husband leaped to death with son: She taps into grief to help others heal
Book of stories about conquering mental illness launched at charity’s 5th anniversary dinner
Name: Shylae Myza Thomas; sometimes spelled “Shylea”.
Died: April 22, 2009.
Age at death: 9.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Flint, Michigan, USA.
Disability: Quadriplegia.
Details:
Shylae was starved to death by her aunt.
Case status:
Lorrie Thomas (Aunt, adoptive mother), convicted of involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 10-15 years.
Source:
Lorrie Thomas Gets 10 Years for Starving Quadriplegic Daughter Shylae Thomas to Death
A Memorial Page for Shylae Myza Thomas | Facebook
Shylae Thomas: Starved to Death
Name: Caden Rivera.
Died: April 22, 2009.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Blunt force abdominal trauma.
Location: Cape May County, New Jersey, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.
Details:
Caden’s mother’s boyfriend beat him to death.
Case status:
Damian Rodriguez (Mother’s boyfriend), pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, sentenced to 11-13 years.
Source:
Cape May disabled toddler dies while under DYFS supervision
Wildwood man sentenced to 13 years in Woodbine toddler’s death
Name: Pamela Camille Hall.
Died: April 11, 2009.
Age at death: 59.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Figsboro, Virginia, USA.
Disability: Spinal cord injury.
Details:
Pamela was stabbed to death by her son-in-law.
Case status:
James Cleveland Miller (Son-in-law) pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life.
Source:
Miller pleads guilty to murder in death of his mother-in-law
Name: Christian Milton Chaote.
Died: April 5, 2009.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma; internal bleeding, skull fracture.
Location: Gary, Indiana, USA.
Disability: Depression, anxiety, ADHD.
Details:
Christian’s parents abused him, eventually beating him to death.
Case status:
Riley Choate (Father), sentenced to 80 years.
Kimberly Kubina (Stepmother), sentenced to 25-35 years.
Source:
Angelizd’s Place: Christian Milton Chaote
Chilling letters of Christian Coate, boy kept in dog cage by his parents
Name: Jeremy Fraser.
Died: March 30, 2009.
Age at death: 9.
Cause of death: Leukemia.
Location: Salem, Maryland, USA.
Disability: Autism, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Details:
Jeremy was in remission, on the last stage of his cancer therapy, when his mother deliberately withdrew the medication that probably would have saved his life. He died of recurrent leukemia.
Case status:
Kristen LaBrie (Mother), convicted of attempted murder, sentenced to 8-10 years; served 5 years before being granted new trial; pleaded guilty to attempted murder, sentenced to time served.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Jeremy Fraser
New Trial Granted for Salem Mother in Attempted Murder of Son
Woman Who Withheld Chemotherapy Medication From Ill Son Gets Time Served, Freed
Name: Minh Trung “Mike” Tran.
Died: March 28, 2009.
Age at death: 51.
Cause of death: Suffocated.
Location: Elmwood Park, New Jersey, USA.
Disability: Stroke.
Details:
Mike was home for a visit from his nursing home when his wife suffocated him with a plastic bag.
Before his stroke, he was a stay-at-home dad who cared for the children and the house and cooked very good sauce. But after he became disabled, his wife became abusive and eventually killed him and tried to kill their children, who survived.
Case status:
Jenny Tran (Wife), convicted of aggravated manslaughter, attempted murder, and two counts of child endangerment; sentenced to 34-50 years.
Source:
Archive: Elmwood Park woman gets 50 years in husband’s killing despite pleas from her kids
Archive: Tran acquitted of murder, convicted of aggravated manslaughter, attempted murder
Archive: Attorneys argue over defendant’s sanity in Elmwood Park murder case
Archive: Murder defendant told detectives of events leading to husband’s ‘release’
Archive: Daughter told detective Elmwood Park mother tried to kill her earlier
Archive: Daughter saw ‘monster,’ she says at Elmwood Park mom’s murder trial
Name: Betty Lou Erickson.
Died: March 24, 2009.
Age at death: 81.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Hudson, Wisconsin, USA.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.
Details:
Betty’s husband shot her in a murder-suicide.
Case status:
Claire Erickson (Husband), deceased.
Source:
Desperate act from a weary caregiver
More details released in Erickson deaths