Status: Other – Page 13 – Disability Day of Mourning

Maia Comas

Name: Maia Comas.
Died: December 3, 2007.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Sydney, Australia.
Disability: Rett syndrome.

Details:
When Maia was diagnosed with Rett syndrome, her parents wanted to euthanize her. Told this was illegal, they “coincidentally” found Maia drowned in a wading pool and did not attempt to resuscitate her.

Case status:
Pablo Comas and Samantha Comas (Parents) were never charged.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Maia Comas
News of daughter’s illness devastated parents, inquest told
“Why do they keep children with these disabilities alive?”
Maia Coma’s mother says an inability to perform CPR made her feel like a murderer
Coroner unable to say if baby Maia Comas’ death was accidental
Coroner returns open finding into toddler Maia Comas’s pool death
Parents greatly irresponsible over baby Maia’s death: coroner

Kayla Dutcher

No Photo Name: Kayla Dutcher.
Died: October 7, 2007.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Tramadol overdose.
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.
Disability: Blindness.

Details:
Kayla died of an overdose of Tramadol. Her parents reported that she had eaten the Tramadol by accident; the department of human services determined that she had died of “fatal neglect and an injurious environment”.

Case status:
Parents Amy Dutcher and James Dutcher were not charged.

Source:
Kayla Dutcher

Jesse Weaver

Portrait photo of Jesse Weaver, a fair-skinned, brown-haired boy wearing a collared shirt, smiling slightly. Name: Jesse Weaver.
Died: July 8, 2007.
Age at death: 11.
Cause of death: Seroquel overdose.
Location: Lincoln County, Colorado, USA.
Disability: Mental illness.

Details:
Jesse’s mother abruptly withdrew his psychiatric medication. Jesse committed suicide about three weeks later.

Case status:
Traci Weaver (Mother); Wade Weaver (Father). Department of Social Services concluded that they were responsible for emotional abuse, medical neglect, and failure to protect Jesse.

Source:
Children lost in the system
Child Fatality Review: Jesse Weaver

Kate Bugmy

Name: Kate Bugmy.
Died: June 28, 2007.
Age at death: 26.
Cause of death: Sepsis, malnutition.
Location: Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, epilepsy, intellectual disability.

Details:
Kate’s father had been her primary caregiver. When he died suddenly, her mother and sister took over. They stopped bringing Kate to her day program, and her relatives noticed that she seemed sad. She died of malnutrition and systemic blood poisoning from infected bedsores.

Case status:
Daphne Hall (mother) and Jenna Bugmy (sister) were not charged.

Source:
FINDING AFTER AN INQUEST INTO THE DEATH OF KATE THERESE BUGMY
NSW bed sore death could have been prevented: Coroner
System failed disabled woman who died at 26
Inquiry into services provided or funded by the department of Ageing, disability and home care

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

Evelyn Joel

Name: Evelyn Joel.
Died: January 7, 2006.
Age at death: 59.
Cause of death: Pneumonia.
Location: Enniscorthy, Ireland.
Disability: Multiple sclerosis.

Details:
Evelyn’s health rapidly declined while she was in the care of her family. By the time she was hospitalized with multiple infected bedsores, she was too weak to recover when she caught pneumonia.

Case status:
Eleanor Joel (Daughter) and Jonathan Costen (Daughter’s husband), convicted of manslaughter; given two-year suspended sentence; sentence overturned because the health care workers involved in Evelyn’s care had not been summoned to testify at trial.

Source:
Court quashes couple’s convictions for killing Evelyn Joel
Couple will not face retrial over death of MS sufferer
Court quashes couple’s convictions for killing Evelyn Joel
Couple who left MS sufferer, Evelyn Joel, to die in her own filth receive suspended sentence
Ma neglect killer walk free from court
Appeal by couple convicted of letting MS sufferer die with ‘maggots in her infected bedsores’

Dylan Walborn

Pencil drawing of Dylan Walborn, a small boy with light skin and dark hair. His mouth is open. Name: Dylan Walborn.
Died: November 11, 2005.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Dehydration.
Location: Thornton, Colorado, USA.
Disability: Perinatal brain damage, cerebral palsy, epilepsy.

Details:
Dylan had a stroke in utero, and was not supposed to live to see his first birthday. But he lived to be four years old.

At four, Dylan died of starvation and dehydration because his parents stopped feeding him through his feeding tube. It took him twenty-four days to die.

Case status:
Kerri Bruning (Mother) and Dave Walborn (Father), no crime.

Source:
History of euthanasia in Canada
Letting go: Dylan’s last days
Children’s Hospital Euthanizes Dylan Walborn
“Dylan Must Die”

Abubakar Nadama

No Photo Name: Abubakar Tariq Nadama.
Died: August 23, 2005.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Chelation therapy.
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
In an effort to cure his autism, Abubakar’s parents took him to a doctor for chelation therapy. The doctor administered the wrong medication, too quickly, and Abubakar died.

Case status:
Roy Kerry (Doctor), charged with negligent manslaughter, charges dropped.
Abubakar’s parents (No crime).

Source:
Autism Memorial: Abubakar Nadama
Justice may yet prevail in the case of Abubakar Nadama
5-year-old British autistic boy dies after alternative therapy in U.S.
Abubakar Tariq Nadama – More Quackery Revealed

Eliza Scovill

Photo of Eliza Jane Scovill, a toddler with tangled auburn hair, fair skin, and brown eyes wearing a blue dress. She is smiling for the camera. Name: Eliza Jane Scovill.
Died: May 16, 2005.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Pneumonia, AIDS.
Location: Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Disability: HIV+.

Details:
Eliza loved music, singing, and dancing.

She was born to a mother who was HIV-positive and who didn’t believe that HIV causes AIDS. As a result, her mother breastfed her even though this increases the risk of passing on HIV to a baby. Eliza Jane wasn’t tested for HIV, nor was she given antiretroviral drugs, even though these could have saved her life.

She died at the age of three from pneumocystis pneumonia, an opportunistic infection associated with AIDS.

Case status:
Christine Maggiore (Mother), no charges. Died in 2008 from AIDS-related pneumonia.

Source:
Eliza Jane Scovill – Wikipedia
A Mother’s Denial, a Daughter’s Death
Christine Maggiore and Eliza Jane Scovill: Living and dying with HIV/AIDS denialism
Eliza Jane Scovill (2001-2005) – Find A Grave…
Did HIV-Positive Mom’s Beliefs Put Her Children at Risk?
Christine Maggiore, vocal skeptic of AIDS research, dies at 52

Ian Carmichael

Photo of Ian Carmichael, a boy with fair skin and short brown hair. He is wearing a red sweater with a sports logo on it, and a necklace of steel-gray beads. He is smiling for the camera. Name: Ian Carmichael.
Died: July 31, 2004.
Age at death: 11.
Cause of death: Poisoned, strangled.
Location: London, Ontario, Canada.
Disability: Epilepsy, dyslexia, developmental delay.

Details:
Convinced that he was ridding his family of an “intolerable burden”, Ian’s father took him to a hotel room, where he poisoned and then strangled him to death.

Ian competed in BMX bike racing. He left behind his older sister Gillian.

The crime was initially presented by the media as a “mercy killing”. Later on, Ian’s father blamed the antidepressants he was taking.

Case status:
David Carmichael (Father), charged with first-degree murder, ruled not guilty by reason of mental disorder; hospitalized for four years; absolute discharge in December 2009.

Source:
Accused David Carmichael remains silent while media puts defense forward
Carmichael murder case put off
Man not criminally responsible in son’s death
‘Loving’ father opens up over murder of son during psychotic episode
Can pills for depression turn you into a killer?
Canadian man who killed son while taking anti-depressants lobbies for freedom of U.S. dad who killed twins