Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Name: Nancy Fitzmaurice .
Died: August 21, 2014.
Age at death: 12.
Cause of death: Dehydration.
Location: London, UK.
Disability: Hydrocephalus, epilepsy, neurological disorders.
Details:
Nancy’s mother fought for a court order to have fluids withdrawn from her disabled daughter; Nancy died of dehydration.
Case status:
Charlotte Fitzmaurice (Mother); no charges.
Name: Albert Franklin.
Died: Sometime after July 28, 2014.
Age at death: 67.
Cause of death: Sepsis and malnutrition.
Location: Flint, Michigan, USA.
Disability: Dementia.
Details:
Albert had a feeding tube because of an obstruction in his throat, but his caregivers refused to use it, so Albert starved until he weighed only 52 pounds. He was hospitalized in July 2014, in septic shock from untreated bedsores, and died there.
Case status:
Alice Bitters (Girlfriend), ruled not competent to stand trial and institutionalized.
Melissa Bardoni (Girlfriend’s niece), pleaded no contest to second-degree murder, sentenced to 15-30 years.
Source:
Bardoni v. Howard, Case No. 20-11861 | Casetext Search + Citator
Woman pleads guilty to murder in elder abuse case
2 Flint women charged with abusing emaciated man
Caregivers arrested after emaciated man found with infected bed sores in Flint
Girlfriend, niece charged with elder abuse after police find 52 pound man
Woman Pleads Guilty In Flint Elder Abuse Case, Second Woman May Have Been Involved
Woman pleads guilty to murder in elder abuse case
Name: Marcia Clark.
Died: July 20, 2014.
Age at death: 83.
Cause of death: Starvation and infection.
Location: Taree, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Frail elder; caregiver claimed dementia and Parkinson’s.
Details:
Marcia died of infected bed sores and starvation after being neglected by her daughter.
The death was ruled as having been of “natural causes… the combined effects of severe malnutrition and infection… after a period of being neglected by her carer.”
Case status:
Nardia Clark (Daughter), no charges; went missing, found dead in 2016.
Source:
How the system failed this elderly mother and her daughter who couldn’t cope
Death of Marcia Clark: Coroner finds daughter struggled to care for elderly mother
Findings Marcia Clark.pdf
Name: Cecily Kurtz.
Died: July 2, 2014.
Age at death: 79.
Cause of death: Pulmonary embolism.
Location: Didcot, England, UK.
Disability: Bipolar disorder, OCD.
Details:
Cecily was unable to care for her own needs because of her mental illness, but her daughter left her on the couch and did not care for her. Having been neglected for years, she died of a pulmonary embolism in a filthy room, weighing 85 pounds.
Case status:
Emma-Jane Kurtz (Daughter), convicted of willful neglect, sentenced to serve at least half of a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence; sentence overturned when judge determined that the court had not proved that Cecily lacked the ability to make her own decisions.
Source:
Daughter left mum to die in own faeces
Emma-Jane Kurtz jailed after mum is found dead due to neglect
Daughter jailed for leaving mother to die in her own feces
Neglected mum’s body ‘looked like photograph from WW2 concentration camp’
Doctor who cared for ‘neglected’ mother ‘blocked by family’
Daughter cleared of neglect after mum, 79, died in ‘pool of urine and diarrhoea’
Name: Kenyon Jakobian Slacks.
Died: June 24, 2014.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Morphine overdose.
Location: Augusta, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Multiple medical problems, including Ohtahara syndrome (rare epilepsy type).
Details:
Kenyon may have died from a morphine overdose administered by his foster mother. However, because his health had been so delicate beforehand, murder could not be proven and his foster mother walked free.
Case status:
Elizabeth Osei (Foster mother), charged with murder, acquitted.
Source:
Parent At Nation’s Leading For-Profit Foster Care Firm Facing Murder Charges
Care-giver indicted on murder charges in child’s overdose death
Murder trial begins in death of disabled foster child
Elizabeth Osei acquitted of murder in foster child case
PHOTOS: Toddler Kenyon Slacks and foster mom Elizabeth Osei
Foster Care news and Updates: Foster mom killed 3-year-old boy with morphine dose
Name: Krystyna Waszynski.
Died: December 2013; body found May 14, 2014.
Age at death: 86.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA.
Disability: Elderly disabled, “mostly bedridden”.
Details:
Krystyna Wasynski was strangled to death by her son. He did not report the death for several months, afraid of being charged with murder.
Krystyna was the widow of Julian Waszynski, an Auschwitz survivor who died in 2005. She left behind three grandchildren.
Case status:
John Waszynski (Son), charged with murder; found not guilty by reason of insanity, committed to a mental institution.
Source:
Connecticut man not guilty of mother’s murder by reason of insanity
Court Document: Wethersfield Man Confessed To Killing 86-Year-Old Mom
John Waszynski charged with mother’s murder after her body is found in their home
Man charged with murdering mother, living with body
Waszynski, Julian
Name: Olivia Clarence.
Age at death: 4.
Name: Ben Clarence.
Age at death: 3.
Name: Max Clarence.
Age at death: 3.
Died: April 22, 2014.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: New Malden, London, UK.
Disability: Spinal muscular atrophy type 2.
Details:
When twins Ben and Max were babies, their mother had requested DNR orders on them and Olivia; later on there were allegations that she had been tampering with their medical equipment, neglecting, and emotionally abusing her children. These allegations were dropped.
Oliva, Ben, and Max were all smothered by their mother when Olivia was four and Ben and Max were three years old.
Case status:
Tania Clarence (mother) pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility, and was hospitalized.
Source:
Woman smothered disabled twin sons before killing their sister, court hears
Was mum who smothered disabled kids ignored by social services because she was middle class?
Name: Lucas Braman.
Died: February 13, 2014.
Age at death: 23 months.
Cause of death: Unknown; possibly restraint-related.
Location: West Yarmouth, Massachusetts, USA.
Disability: “Autistic-like behaviors”; born addicted to narcotics.
Details:
Lucas was found dead wearing a helmet and wrapped in a weighted blanket much too heavy for him; the autopsy was inconclusive. His caretaker had been abusive in the past.
Case status:
Sheryl Erb (Caregiver), no charges.
Elizabeth Cavallini (Caregiver); charged with child rape, assault and battery on a child, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and intimidation of a witness, juror, police, or court official.
Source:
Barnstable grand jury indicts woman, 29, on child rape and assault charges
Autism Memorial: Lucas Braman
How did Lucas Braman die?
Report details pattern of abuse in toddler’s death
Lucas: Two families, two portrayals of Yarmouth toddler
Grieving mother of tot under DCF watch: ‘I want to know how he died’
More questions than answers in death of 2-year-old on Cape Cod
No resolution in Yarmouth child’s death
Name: Frances Dresser.
Died: January 22, 2014.
Age at death: 86.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Carson City, Nevada, USA.
Disability: Paralysis (from fall).
Details:
Frances fell at home and doctors said she would be paralyzed and need to move to a nursing home. Her husband went home, bought a gun, returned to the hospital and shot her in the chest. She died three days later.
Frances Dresser was a great-grandmother who loved music and nature.
Case status:
William Lyle Dresser (Husband), charged with murder; charges dropped by a judge who said, “William Dresser killed his wife, but he is not a murderer”.
Source:
‘No evil in his act’: DA seeks to drop mercy killing murder charge
Murder charge dismissed against William Dresser
Name: Susan Simonetti.
Died: January 18, 2014.
Age at death: 56.
Cause of death: Neglect-related.
Location: New Britain, Connecticut, USA.
Disability: Unspecified.
Details:
Susan’s brother was under investigation for her death when her mother also died from neglect in similar circumstances.
Case status:
Frank Simonetti (Brother), no charges; charged later for a similar neglect death of his mother, Michaelina Simonetti.
Source:
New Britain Man Charged With Manslaughter In 93-Year-Old Mother’s Death