Status: Sentenced – Page 12 – Disability Day of Mourning

Uthra

Name: Uthra (alternate spelling Uttara).
Died: May 7, 2020.
Age at death: 25.
Cause of death: Snakebite.
Location: Anchal, Kollam, Kerala, India.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Uthra’s husband, having married her for the dowry, decided to kill her. He bought a viper from a snake catcher and induced it to bite his wife. She survived the bite, though she had to spend 52 days in bed and get plastic surgery. Not long after she returned from the hospital, Uthra’s husband bought a second snake, this time a cobra. He gave her sedatives to make her sleepy, and while she was asleep, he made the snake bite Uthra, who died the next day. Police say Uthra’s in-laws were involved in planning the attacks and covering up for Uthra’s husband.

Uthra was the mother of a one-year-old son.

Case Status:
Sooraj S. Kumar (Husband), convicted of murder, sentenced to life plus 17 years.
Renuka and Surya (Sooraj’s mother and sister), charged with conspiracy, domestic violence, and destruction of evidence.
Surendran Panicker (Father-in-law), charged with destroying evidence.
Chavarukavu Suresh Kumar (Snake catcher), unspecified charges, serving as witness.

Sources:
Uthra Case : 27 Circumstances Which Proved Murder Using Live Cobra
Man who used a cobra to murder his wife is jailed for life
Uttara Snakebite Murder: Suraj Gets 17 Years Plus Two Life Terms
Snake-bite Murder : Court Finds Suraj Guilty Of Killing Wife Uttara; Quantum Sentencing on Wednesday
Kerala snakebite murder
‘He killed his wife because I gave the cobra’: Snake-catcher breaks down in Kerala court
Uthra’s relatives depose in snakebite murder case

Kathy Erbelding

No Photo Name: Kathy Erbelding.
Died: April 30, 2020.
Age at death: 63.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA.
Disability: Legally blind.

Details:
Kathy’s daughter and an unrelated man allegedly stole $700 from her bank account, which they used to buy the gun with which they murdered her.

Kathy liked books on tape, her dog Opie, and crochet. She was a camper and then a counselor at her beloved Camp Onseyawa, a summer camp for children with disabilities.

Case status:
Jacob Lugmayer (Housemate), pleaded guilty to complicity to commit murder, complicity to commit first-degree robbery and abuse of a corpse, sentenced to life.
Krystal A. Erbelding (Daughter), charged with murder, robbery, and abuse of a corpse.

Source:
Plea deal offered to woman for role in mother’s murder
One of two charged in 2020 homicide pleads guilty
Obituary of Kathy J. (Blackburn) Erbelding | Cheney Funeral Home
Amazon’s Alexa may be key witness in clearing Kentucky woman of her mother’s murder, attorneys say
Kentucky police: Man, woman charged with killing blind mother
Hardin County man, woman charged with killing blind mother
Police: Man, woman charged with killing blind mother
Pair charged with murder could face death penalty
Couple charged after ‘shooting woman’s blind mom in the head and taking $700′

Damian Scott

No Photo Name: Damian B. Scott.
Died: April 26, 2020.
Age at death: 43.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Bloomingdale, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Blind, unable to walk, unspecified mental disability.

Details:
Scott’s uncle strangled him to death. An autopsy found that Scott had survived at least one previous strangulation attempt.

Case status:
Dominick Taylor (Uncle), convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to 50 years and must serve all of his sentence.

Source:
Man sentenced to 50 years for killing disabled nephew
Bloomingdale man accused of killing disabled nephew back in Illinois
Bond Set At $2M For Bloomingdale Man Charged With First Degree Murder

James and Janet Samuels and Lachesta Childs

Photo of an older African American man wearing a gray tuxedo and glasses. He is smiling for the camera. His hair is a short fringe on the sides of his head. — James Samuels

Name: James Samuels.
Age at death: 69.
Disability: Leg amputee.

Name: Janet Samuels.
Age at death: 67.
Disability: Unspecified disability.

Name: Lachesta “Shasta” Childs.
Age at death: 47.
Disability: Autism.

Janet Samuels

Died: March 31, 2020.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Macon, Georgia, USA.

Details:
After Janet’s sister’s boyfriend assaulted her sister and Janet tried to intervene, James, Janet, and Shasta were shot by the boyfriend of Janet’s sister, who then proceeded to kidnap his two-year-old son. Janet’s sister escaped to safety; the toddler was rescued unhurt after a police standoff ended in the killer’s arrest.

Janet leaves behind a twin sister; her sister remembers that the two were inseparable until Janet’s death.

Case Status:
Caesar Crockett (Sister’s boyfriend), convicted of three counts of murder and kidnapping, sentenced to life without parole.

Sources:
‘You need to die in the penitentiary’: Macon man convicted of triple murder and kidnapping
Autism Memorial: Lachesta Childs

Josias Marquez

Photo of a small boy with tan skin and very short black hair, wearing a gray sweater and green pants a little too big for him. He is strapped into a blue plastic seat. Name: Josias Marquez.
Died: March 31, 2020 (Body found).
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Neglect.
Location: Howard, Wisconsin, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, blind, epilepsy.

Details:
Josias’s body was found in the trunk of his mother’s car after she was arrested for neglecting his siblings, ages 2 and 6. His exact cause of death is unknown, but it is probable that he died from either malnutrition or from a fatal seizure (his mother reportedly admitted to not giving him his seizure medication). His body showed signs of malnutrition.

Case status:
Sagal Hussein (Mother), pleaded no contest to child neglect resulting in death, hiding the corpse of a child, two misdemeanor counts of neglecting a child, and obstruction; sentenced to 15 years in prison and 10 years probation.

Source:
Howard woman sentenced to 15 years prison for neglect death of son
Mother ’embarrassed’ by son’s disability pleads not guilty after cops find the 5-year-old’s mummified body car trunk
Plea deal possible for mother accused in son’s death
Howard woman pleads not guilty in son’s neglect death
Mom accused in child’s death objects to videoconference court hearing
Howard woman charged in death of son found in trunk of car
Green Bay-area woman charged with hiding 5-year-old son’s corpse, says she gave him CBD to treat seizures
Brown County woman charged in death of 5-year-old son
Woman charged after 5-year-old son’s body found in duffel bag
Wisconsin woman charged in death of son found in trunk of car
Wisconsin woman charged after son’s body found in her car
Wisconsin mom charged after 5-year-old son’s body found in duffel bag in trunk
Boy Found Dead In Trunk Of Woman’s Car Was Her Blind 5-Year-Old Son, Autopsy Confirms
Body of missing 5-year-old boy found in mother’s trunk after she told police he was with his father: Cops

Princess Chapman

Sepia portrait photo of a middle-aged African-American woman with a perm, wearing a suit jacket and scarf. Name: Princess “PC” Richards Chapman.
Died: March 27, 2020.
Age at death: 86.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Newport News, Virginia, USA.
Disability: Unspecified; wheelchair user.

Details:
Princess, nicknamed PC, was shot by her husband.

She was an ordained minister, and worked as a dental assistant.

Case status:
Brian Keith Patterson (Husband), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony; set to be released in 2039.

Source:
York County man pleads guilty to fatal domestic-related shooting
Virginia man jailed in killing of wheelchair-bound wife
Princess Chapman’s Obituary

Gerald Walton

Name: Gerald Walton.
Died: February 27, 2020.
Age at death: 21.
Cause of death: Arson.
Location: Forsyth, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Special needs, unspecified.

Other Victim: Tasha Vandiver, 46, non-disabled; Gerald’s mother.

Details:
Gerald and his mother died in a house fire set by his sister.

He was a Special Olympics athlete. A teacher remembers that Gerald was a cheerful young man who “loved everyone he met”.

Case status:
Candace Walton (Sister), pleaded guilty to murder, arson, and theft, sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 30 years.
Kaleo Pangelian (Sister’s boyfriend), convicted of arson, sentenced to 20 years.

Source:
Pangelinan gets 20 years for role in double murder; see murderous Instagram messages below
Monroe County teen pleads guilty to killing mother, brother in 2020 arson
Monroe County teen pleads guilty to killing her mother, brother with special needs in 2020 arson
Nearly 1 year since Monroe County arson that took lives of a mother, son
Georgia teen Candace Walton extradited from Kentucky on murder charge
Boyfriend of girl charged with killing her mom and brother is arrested
Boy, 17, set to be charged with murder for ‘helping girlfriend, 16, he met online kill her mom, 46, and special needs brother in a house fire before trying to start a new life with him’
Monroe County teen charged with killing mom, brother extradited to Georgia
16-year-old charged with murder, arson in Monroe County fatal fire
Georgia teen charged with arson, two counts of murder after fatal fire

Marvat Gerges

No Photo Name: Marvat Gerges.
Died: February 22, 2020.
Age at death: 58.
Cause of death: Strangulation.
Location: Merrick, New York, USA.
Disability: Rheumatoid arthritis.

Details:
Marvat and her husband got into an argument over sink repairs, which her husband escalated by strangling her to death.

Case status:
John Gerges (Husband), pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter; sentenced to 21 years and five years post-release supervision.

Source:
Merrick man sentenced to 21 years for wife’s strangulation
Police: Man arrested for allegedly strangling his wife to death in their Merrick home
Merrick man charged in wife’s killing pleads not guilty

Cherith Van Der Ploeg

No Photo
Name: Cherith Van Der Ploeg.
Died: February 15, 2020.
Age at death: 60.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: Costessey, Norwich, England, UK.
Disability: Terminal lung cancer.

Details:
Cherith was dying of cancer when her ex-husband smothered her to death. His actions, Cherith’s daughter told the court, had robbed her of precious time with her mother; instead of grieving normally after her mother’s natural death on hospice care, she had to come to terms with her mother’s death while giving evidence to police about her murder.

Cherith was an introverted, family-oriented woman who always waved and greeted her neighbors when she saw them.

Case status:
Cornelius Van Der Ploeg (Ex-husband), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to six years to life.

Source:
It was not his decision to make – children devastated by murder of mum
Tributes paid to Cherith Van Der Ploeg who was found dead at Costessey home
Jailed: Telford father killed terminally ill ex-wife

David Allsopp

No Photo Name: David Allsopp.
Died: February 15, 2020.
Age at death: 67.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Derby, England, UK.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
David was exploited by a woman who moved in with him as his caregiver. She beat him on a regular basis and told his friends and family that the bruises were from falls. The beatings eventually killed him.

David leaves behind a twin sister.

Case status:
Magdalena Kissova (Caregiver, roommate), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 24 years.

Source:
Face of killer carer who savagely beat Derby man to death
‘Carer’ exploited and murdered vulnerable Derby man
Evil woman battered dementia OAP she was paid to care for to death