Category: Status

Matthew Robles

No PhotoName: Matthew Robles.
Died: September 1, 1980.
Age at death: 4 months.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: El Cajon, California, USA.
Disability: Hydrocephalus.

Details:
Matthew was smothered by his mother. His death was presumed natural until five years later, when his mother killed his brother, John Robles, and confessed to both killings.

Case status:
Debra Sue Robles (Mother), pled guilty to murder, sentenced to 30 years to life.

Source:
An American Tragedy: Mother Kills 2 Children as System Fails
Woman Held in Deaths of Her Disabled Sons

Linda Zamarripa

No PhotoName: Linda Zamarripa.
Died: August 31, 2024.
Age at death: 58.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: San Antonio, Texas, USA.
Disability: Unspecified, care-dependent.

Details:
Linda, who was unable to leave the house because of her disability, lived with her daughter, who cared for her. Linda’s daughter stabbed her to death; police said she was frustrated because her mother was housebound.

Case Status:
Rachel Zamarripa (Daughter) pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 30 years.

Sources:
Woman sentenced after fatally stabbing mother ‘over a couple dozen times’ in San Antonio
‘She snapped’: Woman stabbed her mother ‘well over a couple dozen times’

3-year-old girl

No PhotoName Unknown.
Died: December 4, 2021.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Townsville, Queensland, Canada.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
This toddler girl’s father, who was the only adult home to take care of her and her two-year-old brother, had been awake for 31 hours, taking and selling methamphetamine. He was sleeping it off when his three-year-old daughter opened the unlocked front door, left the house, and drowned in a storm drain. Prosecutors called his drug use “criminally negligent” and the little girl’s death “entirely preventable”.

Case Status:
Her father pleaded guilty to manslaughter and child endangerment.

Sources:
Father found guilty of non-verbal, autistic daughter’s manslaughter after drowning death

Asimwe Novath

Photo of an African toddler girl. She has light skin and her head is shaved. She is wearing a red sundress.Name: Asimwe Novath.
Died: June 17, 2024 (Body found; missing May 30).
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Unknown; dismembered.
Location: Bulamula Village, Muleba District, Kagera Region, Tanzania.
Disability: Albinism.

Details:
Asimwe went missing from her home, kidnapped by a group of people who strangled her mother and took her away. Nineteen days later, parts of her body were found in a nearby village.

Police eventually tracked down nine suspects, including Asimwe’s father and an assistant parish priest, for being in possession of parts of Asimwe’s body, which they allegedly intended to sell for a profit. Investigators believe that the priest convinced Asimwe’s father to sell her body parts to people who believe that the body parts of a person with albinism bring luck, wealth, or success.

Case Status:
Arrested: Novart Venant (Father), Desideli Evarist, Elipidius Rwegoshora, Dastan Kaiza, Faswiru Athuman, Gozibert Alkadi, Rwenyagira Burkadi, Ramadhani Selestine, and Nurduni Hamada.

Sources:
Tanzania election: The fears that voting time brings for those with albinism
LHRC and THRDC condemn brutal murder of child with albinism in Tanzania, urge immediate action
Seven Days Without Two-Year-Old Asiimwe Novath: Concerns Grow Over Safety of People with Albinism
Fear Grips Albino Community in Tanzania As Pressure Mounts on Authorities to Ensure Its Members’ Safety As Elections Near
NTV Kenya: Tanzania: Child’s father, priest arrested in ritual killing of girl with albinism
Child’s father, Priest among nine arrested in murder of girl with albinism
Search for Missing Two-Year-Old Albino Girl Intensifies; Three Detained