Status – Page 37 – Disability Day of Mourning

Felicity-May Harvey

Name: Felicity-May Harvey.
Died: January 11, 2021.
Age at death: 20 days.
Cause of death: Shaken baby.
Location: Heywood, England, UK.
Disability: Cleft lip and palate.

Details:
Felicity-May died from being shaken hard. After her father was arrested on suspicion of murder, the prosecution said he had killed her; but the defense said her mother had done it, because she was growing frustrated with feeding Felicity.

Felicity was a content, alert baby who was known for taking in the world through her big blue eyes.

Case Status:
Darin Harvey (Father), charged with murder.

Sources:
Dad accused of murdering baby daughter denies lying to police
Dad left disabled baby daughter ‘like a rag doll’ after shaking her to death
Defence claim ‘mum killed baby daughter’ after issues with feeding her
Tragic details surrounding death of ‘beautiful’ baby girl emerge at inquest
The family of a two-week-old baby girl who died in Heywood has paid tribute to her
Felicity-May Harvey: Family pay tribute to baby girl after murder arrest

Joanne Wheeler

Photo of an older lady. Name: Joanne Marcella Wheeler.
Died: January 11, 2021.
Age at death: 87.
Cause of death: Shooting.
Location: Medford, Oregon, USA.
Disability: Unspecified chronic illness; frail elder.

Details:
Joanne was shot to death.

Police say her husband told them that he had shot her because he believed that due to her health problems, she would be “better off dead than alive”.

Joanne enjoyed acrylic, oil, and watercolor painting. Her granchildren called her “Booma”.

Case status:
James Edward Wheeler (Husband), charged with second-degree murder; died before trial.

Source:
Obituary for Joanne M. Wheeler
Elderly Medford man accused of killing his wife dies before trial
88-year-old Southern Oregon man accused of killing wife
88-year-old Medford man arraigned on murder charge

5-year-old girl

Name Unknown.
Died: December 30, 2020.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Untreated ruptured intestine due to blunt-force trauma.
Location: Kampung Sungai Cincin, Gombek, Malaysia.
Disability: Hydrocephalus, mobility impaired.

Details:
This five-year-old girl’s grandaunt is charged with killing her by kicking her in the stomach repeatedly and causing an intestinal rupture, which, untreated, proved fatal. Her father is charged with neglecting her by not taking her to a doctor when she was clearly severely injured.

Case status:
Ipzuma Ambo (grandaunt), charged with murder.
Roza Iskandar Mardi (Father), charged with child neglect.

Source:
Grandaunt, father of disabled girl charged with murder, neglect
Grandaunt and father of 5-year-old girl charged with murder, neglect [NSTTV]
Father, grandaunt among 6 nabbed over death of 5-year old disabled girl
Abuse suspected in disabled child’s death
5yo Disabled Child Dies From Ruptured Intestines After Alleged Abuse By Grandmother
Kanak-kanak 5 tahun pecah usus disepak nenek saudara [METROTV]
Police arrest six over suspected abuse, death of five-year-old disabled girl | The Star

Saburo Sato

No Photo Name: Saburo Sato.
Died: December 30, 2020.
Age at death: 73.
Cause of death: Injuries from assault.
Location: Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Mr. Sato’s son is accused of beating him in the head and stomach; police say he admitted to the charge, saying he had “lost patience” with his father due to his dementia. When Mr. Sato lost consciousness, his son called emergency services, but he was declared dead at the hospital.

Case status:
Seiichi Sato (Son), arrested on suspicion of murder.

Source:
Man, 44, accused of fatally assaulting senile father in Yokohama
Man arrested over murder of 73-year-old father

Gopi

No Photo Name: Gopi.
Died: December, 22, 2020.
Age at death: 20.
Cause of death: Throat cut.
Location: Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India.
Disability: Mobility impaired after accident.

Details:
Gopi had become disabled after an accident, and his father was frustrated that he had to care for him. Gopi’s father came home drunk one day, killed his son with a machete, dumped the body in an unused septic tank, and fled.

Case Status:
Thangavel (Father), convicted of murder and concealing/destroying evidence; sentenced to life.

Sources:
Man gets life imprisonment for killing son in Tiruchi
55-year-old man gets life for killing disabled son
Murder of differently-abled son: Father gets life sentence; Trichy Court Judgment

Ms. Hsu and her children

No Photo Name: Ms. Hsu.
Age at death: 57.
Disability: Cancer.

24-year-old man.
Disability: Epilepsy.

11-year-old girl.
Disability: Aphasia.

Died: December 4, 2020.
Cause of death: Carbon monoxide poisoning.
Location: Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.

Details:
Ms. Hsu and her two children were killed by her husband, their father, when he put them in the back seat of their car and gassed all of them to death with the exhaust fumes.

Case status:
Mr. Chien (Husband, father), deceased.

Source:
Group urges awareness of caregivers after deaths
Family of four found dead in apparent murder-suicide in Kaohsiung

Mr. Mukai

No Photo Name: Mukai (Family name; given name unknown).
Died: December 2020.
Age at death: 51.
Cause of death: Insulin overdose.
Location: Osaka, Japan.
Disability: Diabetes.

Details:
Mr. Mukai’s wife gave him an overdose of insulin, which he had not been prescribed, causing him to fall into a coma. He remained hospitalized until he died the next year.

Case Status:
Shizuka Mukai (Wife), convicted of murder, sentenced to 15 years.

Sources:
Court rejects appeal of woman jailed for 15 years for killing husband with insulin overdose
A 48-year-old woman arrested in Osaka for suspected murder or insulin administration to her husband Osaka

Karreon Walter-Franks

Name: Karreon Walter-Franks.
Died: November 27, 2020.
Age at death: 15.
Cause of death: Starvation, pneumonia.
Location: Vancouver, Washington, USA.
Disability: Autism, developmental delay, visually impaired.

Details:
At the time of his death, Karreon was known to the child welfare system. His aunt reported to social workers that Karreon and his siblings had been starved for years and had to steal food to survive, and that Karreon was emaciated and had collapsed from hunger. His brother told them that Karreon’s mother had hit him with a cane for throwing up. The last contact by child welfare to the home was only a week before Karreon died and the funeral home contacted police because his body weighed only 65 pounds and was in very poor condition.

After his death, Karreon’s two younger siblings were removed from the home.

Case Status:
Felicia Adams (Aunt, adoptive mother), convicted of second-degree murder and homicide by abuse, sentenced to 35 years.
Jesse Franks (Felicia’s husband), convicted of second-degree murder and homicide by abuse, sentenced to 30 years.

Source:
Karreon Franks’ adoptive parents sentenced to decades in prison for his murder
Couple Accused of Starving Blind Adoptive Son to Death Pleads Not Guilty After Turning Themselves In
Trial begins for parents accused of starving Washington teen to death
SW Washington couple deny starving 15-year-old son to death as murder trial nears end
Clark County jury convicts adoptive parents of homicide by abuse, murder in Vancouver boy’s starvation death
Adoptive parents testify in death of disabled Vancouver boy, say they never withheld food as punishment | The Spokesman-Review
Clark County jury convicts parents for starving disabled son to death
Autism Memorial: Karreon Walter-Franks
State records highlight years of suspected abuse in home where Clark County teen died
Couple arrested in Stockton appear in court on murder allegation in starvation case
Washington couple arrested in starvation death of child
Disabled 15-year-old boy dies weighing 65 pounds DAYS after CPS visits adoptive parents’ home: Reports
Parents of Vancouver teen who died from starvation face murder charges; arrest warrants issued
Washington teen’s death ruled homicide due to starvation and neglect
Police: Authorities visited starving teen days before death
Child welfare visited disabled 15-year-old boy DAYS before he died weighing only 65 pounds, court docs reveal

William and Eric Smithson

No Photo Name:William Harvey Smithson.
Age at death: 78.
Disability: Chronic illness/frail elder.

Name: Eric Russell Smithson.
Age at death: 54.
Disability: Unspecified special needs.

Died: November 24, 2020.
Cause of death: Shooting.
Location: Clermont, Florida, USA.

Details:
William and his son Eric lived with his wife. Authorities concluded that William’s wife shot and killed her husband and son, then killed herself.

Case status:
Joyce Lorraine Smithson (wife/mother), died by suicide.

Source:
Florida woman accused of killing husband, son with special needs in double murder-suicide
Deputies: Woman killed her husband, son with special needs before killing herself
Elderly Woman Murdered Her Ill Husband and Special Needs Son Before Dying by Suicide: Deputies
Incident 11-24-2020 Florida Clermont 2-1

Thomas Gruidl

No Photo Name: Thomas Gruidl.
Died: November 20, 2020.
Age at death: 73.
Cause of death: Blunt force trauma.
Location: Wilmington, North Carolina, USA.
Disability: Cancer, wheelchair user.

Details:
Thomas’s son beat him to death with a baseball bat as he lay in bed.

Case status:
Flynn Thomas Gruidl (Son), charged with first-degree murder, fraud, and defrauding the elderly; pleaded guilty to second degree murder, sentenced to 23-28 years in prison.

Source:
New Hanover man pleads guilty in connection with father’s death
Man accused of killing father stole $134K from parents’ bank account, warrants allege
‘There’s blood everywhere’: 911 caller describes finding man allegedly beaten to death by son
Man charged with murder in father’s death