Status – Page 179 – Disability Day of Mourning

Rebecca Riley

Portrait photo of Rebecca Riley, a girl with long wavy brown hair and an uncertain smile. Name: Rebecca Riley.
Died: December 13, 2006.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Drug overdose.
Location: Hull, Massachusetts, USA.
Disability: ADHD, bipolar disorder.

Details:
Rebecca died of a drug overdose. Her psychiatrist had prescribed high doses of medication to begin with, but her parents gave her even more, and eventually she died of poisoning.

Case status:
Michael Riley (Father), first degree murder, life without parole.
Carolyn Riley (Mother), second degree murder, fifteen years to life.
Kayoko Kifuji (Doctor), no charges.

Source:
Rebecca Riley

Ulysses Stable

No Photo Name: 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

M.E.

No Photo Name: M.E., possibly Michael Egan.
Died: November 22 (?), 2006.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Neglect.
Location: Unknown; possibly Illinois, USA.
Disability: Unknown.

Details:
M. E. was “starved and deprived [of] medical care by his parents”.

Case status:
Unknown.

Source:
Day of Mourning: The List
SSDI: Michael Egan

Sherry Lavery

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

Kathy Wangler

Photo of a smiling woman with light skin and frizzy brown hair, smiling for the camera. Name: Kathy Wangler.
Died: September 4, 2006.
Age at death: 48.
Cause of death: Carbon monoxide poisoning.
Location: Lima, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Epilepsy.

Details:
Kathy’s husband gassed her with carbon monoxide, then called emergency services and claimed she was having a seizure. Kathy was declared dead, and an autopsy determined she had already been dead for half an hour when her husband called 911, calling his story into question. Kathy’s friends also testified that her husband had been psychologically abusing her.

Every summer, Kathy volunteered at the county fair to raise money for the local school district.

Case Status:
Mark Wangler (Husband), convicted of aggravated murder, sentenced to 25 years to life.

Sources:
An Ohio Mom Is Found Dead From Carbon Monoxide. Was It A Tragic Accident Or Murder?
Dateline: Secrets Uncovered – Where is Ohio anesthesiologist Dr Mark Wangler now?
State v. Wangler, 2012 Ohio 4878
Kathy Wangler Murder: Where is Dr. Mark Wangler Now? –
Did Ohio anesthesiologist gas his wife to death?

Stephen Chin

Name: Stephen Chin.
Died: September 4, 2006.
Age at death: 63.
Cause of death: Fire.
Location: Daceyville, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: SCI; quadriplegic.

Details:
Knowing he could not move himself from his bed, Stephen’s estranged wife soaked his bedroom in gasoline and set the house on fire. He died in the fire. She told police she killed him so that he could not receive any of their property in their divorce settlement.

Case Status:
Grace Soon (Wife), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 6 years 9 months to 9 years in prison.

Sources:
Wife charged with quadriplegic’s murder
R v Soon
Money ‘motive in quadriplegic’s killing’
Jail for killing “sex orgy” hubby

Lorna McCadden

Blurry black and white photo of Lorna McCaddon, a light-skinned woman with a beehive hairdo, wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, photographed outside in a garden. Name: Lorna McCadden.
Died: August 29, 2006.
Age at death: 80.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Penticton, British Columbia, Canada.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.

Details:
Lorna’s husband went to the hospital where she was staying and shot her and then himself in a murder-suicide.

Case status:
John McCadden (Husband), deceased.

Source:
History of euthanasia in Canada
Murder/Suicide Update
Elderly Murder-Suicides Indicate Desperation, not Compassion
Elderly couple shot to death at B.C. hospital
Such an ugly unnecessary way to die: Two old, failing lovers might choose to end it all rather than to live apart
Slaying of wife seen as act of compassion

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

Gregory Stewart

No Photo Name: Gregory Ross Stewart.
Died: August 9, 2006.
Age at death: 52.
Cause of death: Strangulation.
Location: Summerholm, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Leg amputee.

Details:
Gregory lived with his former partner, with whom he had broken up; but they were still living together until a property dispute could be resolved. Neighbors say his partner had a history of being violent towards him, with his decreased mobility making him an easier target. Gregory’s body was found in his living room; his prosthetic leg had been removed and he had been strangled.

Case Status:
Diana Fae Hughes (Partner), convicted of murder, sentenced to life.

Sources:
R v Hughes [2012] QCA 208 (14 August 2012)
Macabre slideshow of murder
Killer grandma has appeal rejected

Marcus Fiesel

Photo of Marcus Fiesel, a small boy on a green lawn. He has pale skin and windswept brown hair in a bowl cut. He is shyly covering his mouth with his hands. Name: Marcus Fiesel.
Died: August 4-6, 2006 (exact day unknown).
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Dehydration, heat stroke, and/or positional asphyxia.
Location: Middletown, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Autism, developmental delay.

Details:
Marcus’s foster parents wrapped him up in a blanket, tied it with packing tape, and left him in a closet while they went away for three days. Marcus was dead when they returned.

Case status:
Liz Carrol (Foster mother), murder, sentenced to 54 to life.
David Carroll Jr. (Foster father), murder, sentenced to 16 years.

Source:
Parole denied for David Carroll, convicted of murder of Marcus Fiesel of Middletown
Man convicted in abuse, killing of 3-year-old foster son to get parole hearing
David Carroll is up for parole in murder of foster son, Marcus Fiesel, 3
Autism Memorial: Marcus Fiesel
Remembering the boy with the bright blue eyes