Category: Status: Sentenced

Suspect convicted and sentenced.

Brandon Sims

Grainy black-and-white photo of a baby with dark skin, dark eyes, short hair, and a wide, upturned nose.Name: Brandon Lamarr Sims.
Died: 1992 (Body never found).
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Missing, presumed dead.
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Disability: Gonadotropin-independent precocious puberty.

Details:
Brandon was beaten to death by his mother, who said she “did not want to raise a freak”.

Case status:
Michelle Jones (Mother), convicted of murder, sentenced to 50 years; released after 20 years.

Source:
We Need to Forgive the College-Bound Mother Who Killed Her Child
From Prison to Ph.D.: The Redemption and Rejection of Michelle Jones
Michelle Jones v. State

Noah Simpson

Photo of the top corner of a gravestone, engraving indistinct since it has filled with dirt, reading, "Noah, October 13, 1989 to December 10, 1991."Name: Noah Simpson.
Died: December 10, 1991.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Eastlake, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
Noah’s mother suffocated him by placing him face-down on a waterbed.

Case status:
Elayna Simpson (Mother); convicted of murder, sentenced to 15 years to life.

Source:
State of Ohio vs. Elayna Simpson. Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eleventh Appellate District, Lake County. 30 Sept. 1994. LexisNexus. Web. 30 May 2015.

Jeni Cazares

No PhotoName: Jeni Cazares, also called Yeni Lezama, Jenny, or Yeni Cazares.
Died: May 19, 1991.
Age at death: 3 months.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Santa Ana, California, USA.
Disability: Down syndrome.

Details:
Jeny’s mother smashed her head; then her parents both helped hide her body.

Case status:
Oscar Lezama, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, sentenced to 11 years.
Rocio Cazares (Mother), pleaded guilty to being an accessory, sentenced to 5 years probation.

Source:
Mother Charged With Murdering Infant Daughter in Her Apartment

Dorothy Davis

Photo of a middle aged woman with curly chin-length auburn hair and pale skin, smiling for the camera.Name: Dorothy Davis.
Died: March 13, 1991.
Age at death: 35.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Fort Lewis, Washington, USA.
Disability: Depression.

Details:
Dorothy’s husband shot her and tried to pass it off as a suicide due to her depression. The investigation into her death was reopened when detectives realized he had left his jacket, which he had been seen in at the club where he claimed to have been when Dorothy died, at the murder scene. Several years earlier, he had also tried to burn down the house with Dorothy in it.

Dorothy was the mother of two daughters, who now live with her sister. She was pregnant with her third child when she was killed.

Case Status:
Christian Davis (Husband), convicted of murder, sentenced to life.

Sources:
A Pregnant Army Wife Dies in Apparent Suicide But Details Haunt Investigators: “Makes No Sense”
Fort Lewis Man Guilty Of Murder

Matthew Rosio

No PhotoName: Matthew Rosio.
Died: October 16, 1990.
Age at death: 11.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
After seeing a television program on euthanasia, Matthew’s mother deliberately starved him to death.

Case status:
Patricia Rosio (Mother); she was given eight years of probation and ordered to serve a three-month jail sentence, but allowed out 16 hours a day.

Source:
Mother charged with starving her ailing son to death
Milwaukee Sentinel, Dec. 12, 1992, page 1A

Samuel Linares

Photo of Samuel Linares's gravestone, reading, Samuel John Linares, January 26, 1988 to April 26, 1989.Name: Samuel Linares.
Died: April 26, 1989.
Age at death: 16 months.
Cause of death: Hypoxia; ventilator disconnected.
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Disability: PVS due to hypoxic brain damage.

Details:
Samuel had choked on a balloon and, eight months later, was still on life support in the hospital. His father went to the hospital, pulled a gun on the staff, shut off the ventilator, and held the staff at gunpoint until Samuel died.

Case status:
Rudy Linares (Father), pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon, sentenced to 1 year probation. Grand jury refused to indict for first-degree murder.

Source:
When life is a fate worse than death
Questions of Law Live On After Father Helps Son Die
FATHER IS CLEARED IN ILL BABY’s DEATH
Grand Jury Rejects Murder Count : Teary Father Not Charged in Death of Comatose Boy
GRAND JURY REFUSES TO INDICT DAD WHO PULLED PLUG ON SON
Samuel Linares (1988 – 1989)

Anginetta Clayton

No PhotoName: Anginetta Clayton.
Died: January 17, 1989.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Oxford, Mississippi, USA.
Disability: Microcephaly.

Details:
Anginetta’s mother starved her to death.

Case status:
Bessie Marie Clayton (Mother); convicted of “depraved heart” murder; sentenced to life.

Source:
Bessie Marie CLAYTON, v. STATE of Mississippi.

Lorraine Miranda

Photo of Lorraine Miranda, a young fair-skinned woman with long wavy hair, wearing a blue shirt, with a pensive expression on her face.Name: Lorraine Miranda.
Died: December 5, 1988.
Age at death: 24.
Cause of death: Homicidal violence.
Location: Graniteville, New York, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
Lorraine was strangled and stabbed to death by her fiance. He tried to make it look like a burglary, but was caught and arrested.

She worked as a therapist who worked with children who, like her, had cerebral palsy.

Case status:
Chris Patterson (Fiance); convicted of murder, sentenced to 15 years to life.

Source:
S.I. man who killed, mutilated disabled fiancee in 1988 denied parole again
Staten Island man, who brutally murdered fiancee 25 years ago, denied parole for sixth time

Gail Terrell

A gravestone made for a married couple, decorated with an urn for flowers. It reads: Terrell. Bernie Lee, Gail Melody. The death date for Bernie Lee is blank; the death date for Gail Melody is filled in. The dates are too small to make out.Name: Gail Terrell.
Died: November 13, 1988.
Age at death: 32.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Smyrna, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Epilepsy, cerebral palsy.

Details:
Gail’s mother shot her.

Case status:
Barbara Monroe (Mother); offered to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was ordered to serve 5 years of a 20-year sentence.

Source:
Mother wants year of home confinement in slaying plea

Aaron Norman

A gravestone. It says: Precious. Aaron John Norman, April 7, 1977 to December 20, 1987.Name: Aaron Norman.
Died: December 20, 1987.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Diabetes.
Location: Mead, Washington, USA.
Disability: Juvenile diabetes.

Details:
Aaron’s parents abused him and denied him medical treatment. He died of untreated diabetes, aggravated by being beaten with a board.

Case status:
Bob Norman (Father), manslaughter, 41 months.
Judith Norman (Mother), charged with homicide.
Doug Kleber (Leader, No-Name Fellowship), convicted of second-degree criminal mistreatment, sentenced to 3 years.
Four elders in the No-Name Fellowship were charged with criminal mistreatment; one convicted.

Source:
Sect Leader Gets Three Years
Faith Gone Awry