Status – Page 26 – Disability Day of Mourning

Kaleb Bogan

Photo of a young boy with dark skin, grinning at the camera, lying back on a pillow, wearing an orange tank top printed with "Let's" (the rest of the message is out of frame). Name: Kaleb Bogan.
Died: January 15, 2023.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma and burns.
Location: Tupelo, Mississippi, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Paramedics were called to Kaleb’s home, where he was unresponsive. They performed CPR but were unable to revive him, and he was pronounced dead at the hospital, where doctors reported that Kaleb’s body was covered in scars and burns. His mother was arrested.

Case Status:
Brianna Young (Mother), charged with murder, child abuse, and child neglect.

Sources:
Tupelo mother held without bond after charges upgraded to capital murder
Tupelo woman charged with child abuse after 5 year old autistic child died over weekend | Tippah News
Tupelo woman charged after five-year-old autistic son dies | DeSoto County News
Tupelo mom charged in death of 5-year-old son
Funeral Expenses for Kaleb Bogan, organized by Leslie Harris
Autism Memorial: Kaleb Bogan

Mary Fischer

No Photo Name: Mary Fischer.
Died: January 13, 2023.
Age at death: 72.
Cause of death: Unspecified homicide.
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Disability: Chronic illness.

Details:
Mary’s husband called emergency services, saying he had killed her and was going to kill himself. Responders who entered Mary’s home found her and her husband both dead.

Case Status:
Paul Fischer (Husband), deceased.

Sources:
Las Vegas couple found dead in Death Valley following allege murder-suicide
Elderly couple from Las Vegas found dead in Death Valley National Park

Walid

No Photo Name: Walid (Surname unknown).
Died: Unspecified; announcement made January 10, 2023.
Age at death: Adult.
Cause of death: Bludgeoned.
Location: Gargarish, Tripoli, Libya.
Disability: Developmental disability

Details:
Walid was living in an institution for people with disabilities two months before he was married to his wife. Some time after that, he was dead. Police released a video in which they interviewed his wife, who first blamed Walid’s death on a home invasion, but then admitted that he collapsed and died after she beat him with a metal broom handle for breaking some coffee cups.

Case Status:
His wife (Arrested).

Sources:
Libya: Woman beats her husband to death for breaking coffee cups
سيدة تقتل زوجها من ذوى الإعاقة لكسره فنجانين قهوة | موقع نساعد
جريمة تروع ليبيا.. سيدة تقتل زوجها لسبب غير متوقع
بسبب تكسيره فنجانين للقهوة.. سيدة ليبية تتخلص من زوجها | المصري اليوم
وزارة الداخلية – ليبيا
جبروت امرأة ضربت زوجها حتى الموت: مبيسمعش الكلام – المصريون

Skyler Wilson

Name: Skyler Wilson.
Died: January 9, 2023.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Hypoxic brain injury.
Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
Disability: Reactive attachment disorder.

Details:
Skyler’s parents allegedly tried to “treat” him by swaddling him tightly–so tightly that he could not breathe. Skyler was rushed to the hospital, but died four days later from a brain injury caused by lack of oxygen.

Case Status:
Joseph Wilson (Adoptive father), charged with murder.
Jodi Wilson (Adoptive mother), charged with murder.

Sources:
Warrants reveal Surry County 4-year-old died of hypoxic brain injury, wrist and ankle straps found in home
Search warrants reveal Surry County 4-year-old died from a hypoxic brain injury
Search warrant sheds light on child’s death
Parents Abused 4-Year-Old Son, Who Languished in Hospital for Days before Dying: Deputies
Husband, wife charged with murder of 4-year-old

Alex

No Photo Name: Alex (Surname unknown).
Died: January 9, 2023.
Age at death: 17.
Cause of death: Anorexia nervosa.
Location: South Island, New Zealand.
Disability: Autism, anorexia, OCD.

Details:
Alex was a transgender boy whose parents refused to accept his identity, insisting that it was an expression of his eating disorder and eventually driving him to leave home at the age of sixteen. Alex died from anorexia at the age of seventeen while living in a hotel room.

Case Status:
No one has been charged. After the publication of an article written by a biased journalist, anti-trans activists have blamed Alex’s death on the support services he used, claiming that they were ignoring his declining health in favor of “playing gender games.” A second journalist, in contact with Alex’s friends, challenged that story and portrayed Alex as a troubled but compassionate young man who had been unable to reach out for help because of a long history of rejection and abuse by parents and professionals.

Sources:
All sources have a content warning for transphobia, deadnaming, and misgendering. Sources from a transphobic viewpoint are specifically labeled.
The Life and Death of Alex
Update: On RNZ and Ruth Hill
Autistic trans teen starves to death
Stop conflating being transgender with being sick
The Weekend: Dignity in death shouldn’t be so hard
Rights Aotearoa Demands Immediate Action Over RNZ’s Unconscionable Misrepresentation Of Deceased Trans Youth
Autism Memorial: Alex
Teenager starves to death alone in emergency accommodation (CW: Transphobic viewpoint.)
The tragic loss of our [son] [Alex] (CW: Transphobic viewpoint.)

Megan Frix

Photo of a young woman with fair skin and short brown hair, laughing; she is wearing a black and white blouse. Name: Megan Frix.
Died: January 8, 2023.
Age at death: 26.
Cause of death: Unspecified homicide.
Location: Cumming, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Megan was killed by her father in a homicide-suicide.

Case Status:
Jerry Frix (Father), deceased.

Sources:
Days after alleged murder-suicide of father and disabled daughter, FoCo service group sheds light on larger issue
Ga. Father Murdered Adult Daughter with Special Needs Before Killing Himself
Forsyth County father and daughter dead in murder-suicide, deputies say
Adult with special needs allegedly killed by father in murder-suicide in Forsyth County
Megan Frix Obituary
Autism Memorial: Megan Frix

Cora Laszkiewicz

Name: Cora Laszkiewicz.
Died: January 4, 2023.
Age at death: 23.
Cause of death: Malnutrition.
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Cora died of malnutrition under the care of her mother.

Case Status:
Amy Laszkiewicz (Mother), pleaded no contest to recklessly subjecting an at-risk individual to abuse causing death; sentenced to 20 years in prison and 15 years probation.

Sources:
Autistic daughter starved to death, Pewaukee woman sentenced
Pewaukee woman sentenced after autistic daughter starved to death
Pewaukee mom sentenced to 20 years for death of autistic daughter
Judge throws book at mom who starved 70-pound adult daughter with ‘severe autism’ to death
Mother enters plea in malnutrition death of autistic daughter
Mom pleads guilty for allowing adult daughter with ‘severe autism’ to starve to death
Pewaukee mother accused of killing autistic daughter enters plea, avoids trial
Mother charged in malnutrition death of autistic daughter
Mother allegedly allowed her daughter with “severe autism” to starve herself to death
Pewaukee woman charged in death of malnourished autistic adult daughter
Autism Memorial: Cora Laszkiewicz

Lindy Lucena

Name: Lindy “Kimmy” Lucena.
Died: January 3, 2023.
Age at death: 64.
Cause of death: Heart attack.
Location: Ballina, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Cognitive and physical disability after stroke.

Details:
Lindy, who was called Kimmy by her friends, was badly beaten by her boyfriend. Already weakened by her poor health, she died from a heart attack soon after the assault.

Kimmy loved reading, drinking coffee, and sitting in the sun in her backyard.

Case Status:
Robert Karl Huber (Partner) was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years.

Sources:
Brave woman confronts ‘monster’ who brutally beat her disabled mum to death
Daughter tells court of ‘bravest person I know’ as mum’s attacker jailed

Arya Smith

Name: Arya Smith.
Died: December 27, 2022.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Arya’s mother called 911 and reportedly confessed to killing Arya; when she couldn’t strangle the girl, she stabbed her to death instead. Family said she was “stressed” due to Arya’s possible autism and a recent eviction notice.

Case Status:
Jellisa Baxter (Mother), charged with aggravated child abuse and first-degree murder.

Sources:
‘She loved her baby,’ says dad of J’can held for killing 3-y-o in US | Loop Cayman Islands
Mother charged in stabbing death of daughter, 3, in North Miami Beach apartment
Stepfather of mother who stabbed, killed daughter says woman was ‘stressed’
Autism Memorial: Arya Smith

Jessie Pickle

Name: Jessie Pickle.
Died: December 26, 2022.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Untreated infection.
Location: Athens, Texas, USA.
Disability: Autism, fetal alcohol syndrome.

Details:
Jessie died from an untreated infection while in the care of his stepmother. Videos provided to the police by his father, who spent long periods away at work and monitored his children with video cameras, show Jessie’s stepmother responding to his obvious illness by locking him in his room for the night; in the morning, she found Jessie dead.

Case Status:
Shonna Pickle (Stepmother), charged with injury to a child.

Sources:
Autism Memorial: Jessie Pickle
Athens woman arrested in death of 10-year-old autistic non-verbal stepson
Affidavit: Athens woman’s abuse, neglect led to death of child