Status: Sentenced – Page 31 – Disability Day of Mourning

5-year-old girl

No Photo Name Unknown.
Died: August 6, 2017.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Fatal abuse.
Location: Jahra, Kuwait.
Disability: Special needs.

Details:
For two months, this five-year-old girl was beaten and burned by her mother and her mother’s boyfriend because they “wanted to get rid of her” and resented her for the attention she needed. She died from a particularly vicious beating, and only then did her mother finally call the police, claiming that her daughter had fallen from a window.

Case status:
Mother and mother’s boyfriend, both convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.

Source:
Boyfriend, woman hearing adjourned in disabled girl’s killing
Woman, boyfriend sentenced to death in disabled girl’s murder
Mother, boyfriend sentenced to death for killing special-needs daughter
Kuwaiti mother sentenced to death for murdering her disabled daughter
Kuwaiti mother and boyfriend kill 5-year-old daughter, get death sentence
Kuwait Sentences Mother, Boyfriend to Death for Killing Daughter with Special Needs
Five year old girl murdered by mother and her boyfriend

Courtney Turney

Photo of Courtney Turney, a young woman with dark-brown hair and tan skin. She is smiling for the camera. Name: Courtney Ann Nemea Turney.
Died: August 5, 2017.
Age at death: 33.
Cause of death: Torture.
Location: Seaside, California, USA.
Disability: Unspecified special needs due to complications during birth.

Details:
Courtney moved in with a friend, only to have her so-called friend imprison her, force her to perform physical labor, starve her, and abuse her for around a decade before killing her. She weighed 54 pounds and had a fractured skull.

Case status:
Corrie Denise Arriaga (Housemate), charged with first-degree murder, in addition to torture, human trafficking, false imprisonment of a dependent adult and theft from a dependent adult; pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, sentenced to life without parole.
Manuel Jesus Lopez Jarquin, pleaded guilty to abuse of a dependent adult and accessory after the fact, sentenced to 7 years 8 months.

Source:
Monterey County DA: Seaside man played a role in death of woman prisoner
Seaside woman pleads guilty to murder by torture of dependent adult
Courtney Ann Nemea Turney (1984-2017) – Find A Grave
Calif. woman arrested for torture, murder of special needs woman
DA: Seaside woman arrested for murder, torture of special needs woman
Seaside woman arrested for torture, murder of special needs woman

Mathew Dunbar

Photo of Mathew Dunbar, a middle-aged man with a receding hairline, gray eyes, and a friendly smile. Name: Mathew Dunbar.
Died: August 2, 2017.
Age at death: 42.
Cause of death: Suffocated due to helium inhalation.
Location: Walcha, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Depression, leg injury.

Details:
Mathew was a farmer who used his land to raise sheep.

After he made her the sole heir of his large property, Mathew’s partner made up a cocktail of sedatives and fed it to Mathew; when he was unconscious she gassed him with helium. She claimed that Mathew had committed suicide due to his depression, but when police checked her computer, they found evidence that they say shows she had been researching how to commit murder. Mathew’s partner had also been arrested and charged with attempted murder years ago for setting the house on fire with her previous husband inside, but that charge was withdrawn.

Case status:
Natasha Beth Darcy (Partner), convicted of murder, sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Source:
Natasha Beth Darcy found guilty of murdering partner after saying he had taken his own life | Daily Mail Online
NSW woman ‘not upset’ at partner’s death
Nutribullet used to blend cocktail of drugs in grazier murder: court
Woman charged over death of NSW farmer allegedly searched ‘murder’ before his death

Shannon Cooper

Name: Shannon Michelle Barrett-Cooper.
Died: July 25, 2017.
Age at death: 40.
Cause of death: Sepsis.
Location: Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA.
Disability: Childhood leukemia, paraplegic.

Details:
Shannon’s fiance moved her into his house and isolated her from her family. He neglected her, starving her, keeping her in filthy conditions, and not getting her medical help when she needed it. Shannon died when her extensive bedsores caused blood poisoning.

Case statys:
Gary Marple (Fiance), charged with criminal negligence; convicted and sentenced to 4 years.

Source:
Murfreesboro man charged with negligence in fiancee’s death
Shannon Michelle Cooper’s Obituary

Olivia Kray

Close-up photo of Olivia Kray, a young woman with olive skin and long, dark brown hair. She is smiling. Name: Olivia Kray.
Died: July 21, 2017.
Age at death: 19.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Herne Bay, England, UK.
Disability: Anxiety disorder, mental illness.

Details:
Olivia’s father strangled her to death; then he went after Olivia’s mother, who escaped and ran to a neighbor’s to call the police. The killer claimed that he was so stressed by Olivia’s mental illness that he had “snapped” and “couldn’t let her suffer any more”.

Case status:
Richard Kray (Father; employed as caregiver to autistic children in a special school), pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder, sentenced to 10 years, to be partially served in a psychiatric unit.

Source:
Desperate father who strangled teenage daughter sectioned
Dad who strangled daughter to death before trying to kill ex-wife is jailed
Dad gets 10 years for strangling daughter

Pernell Robinson

Name: Pernell Robinson.
Died: July 15, 2017.
Age at death: 49.
Cause of death: Blunt-force trauma.
Location: Daytona beach, Florida, USA.
Disability: Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder.

Details:
Pernell had been subjected to abuse by his caregiver for years. Hospitalized for his injuries, he told police that his caregiver had beaten him, but later retracted his statement and went back to live with her. Eventually, she took out a life insurance policy on him and beat him to death.

Case status:
Diane Reid (Caregiver), convicted of second-degree murder and neglect of a disabled adult, sentenced to life.

Source:
Disgusting Woman TORTURED a DISABLED!!! Man To Death for NO REASON!!!
Daytona caregiver gets life for killing man for insurance payout
Daytona woman found guilty of killing disabled man for insurance money
Police: Disabled man’s death ‘suspicious’
Police: Death of Daytona Beach man, 49, ruled homicide
Daytona man’s death a homicide; police offer $5,000 reward
Caretaker responsible for mid-July death of Daytona Beach man, police say
Caregiver charged in murder of Daytona Beach man

Ozlem Karakoc

Name: Özlem “Ozzie” Karakoç.
Died: July 14, 2017.
Age at death: 34.
Cause of death: Drowned.
Location: Dandenong, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Bipolar disorder.

Details:
Ozzie’s ex-boyfriend killed her because she had ended the relationship and wanted to marry another man. He drowned her in the bathtub, and then claimed that they had had a suicide pact (there is no evidence that they ever did).

Case status:
Murat Davsanoglu (Ex-boyfriend), convicted of murder, sentenced to 18-23 years.

Source:
Man jailed for drowning girlfriend after she told him she was marrying someone else
Man jailed for drowning girlfriend after she told him she was marrying someone else
‘Suicide pact’ man facing murder trial for girlfriend’s bath drowning
‘You left us too soon’: Family pays tribute to young mum found dead in Lalor
Melbourne man ‘drowned partner in the bath in suicide pact’
Vic man to stand trial over bath murder
Tributes pour in for Melbourne mum allegedly murdered by partner
Mother allegedly dumped in abandoned house in ‘suicide pact’

Leona Twiss

Black and white photo of Leona Twiss, a young woman in old-fashioned clothing. She has curly hair and light skin and is wearing a white blouse and flight attendant's cap. Name: Leona Twiss.
Died: July 9, 2017.
Age at death: 95.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Fort Ann, Florida, USA.
Disability: Early dementia, frail elder.

Details:
Not long after Leona’s grandson moved into her house to help care for her, he and his wife conspired to kill her; he strangled her with a towel.

Case status:
Kevin L. Gonyea (Grandson), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 15 years to life.
Melissa Gonyea (Grandson’s wife), pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence and other charges related to being an accomplice, sentenced to 3 1/3 to 10 years.

Source:
Gonyea sentenced to 15 years to life for strangling his grandmother
Fort Ann man charged with murder
Fort Ann grandson and his wife charged in death of 95-year-old grandmother
Local police travel to Florida for murder investigation
New York man charged with strangling his 95-year-old grandma
Man accused of killing grandmother, 95
Sheriff’s Office: Fort Ann woman found murdered, family members arrested
Murder suspect has new attorney, court date
Fort Ann couple indicted in connection with 95-year-old’s killing
Family: Woman in murder case deserves life, too
Videos show woman’s implication of husband, others in murder case
Wife of Fort Ann murder suspect pleads guilty
Murder case hearing postponed as subpoena issues debated
Gonyea mulling plea offer in grandmother’s murder
Fort Ann murder suspect talks plea deal again
NY man pleads guilty to strangling grandmother, 95
Following death of 95-year-old woman, two more family members charged
Police were suspicious of Twiss relatives at murder scene
Documents claim former guard told of killing inmates
Defense claims defendant is ‘immune’ in murder case

Peggy Schroeder

Photo of Peggy Schroeder, a middle-aged woman with wavy brown hair, fair skin, and glasses. Name: Peggy Schroeder.
Died: July 8, 2017.
Age at death: 53.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Morrison, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Deaf.

Details:
Peggy was shot to death by her teenage daughter. Her daughter and her friend then set the house on fire to hide the crime.

She was a faithful churchgoer and avid gardener.

Case status:
Anna Schroeder (Adopted daughter), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 20 years.
Rachel Helm (daughter’s girlfriend), pleaded guilty to concealing a homicidal death and arson, sentenced to 11.5 years.

Source:
Rachel Helm gets over a decade in prison for helping Morrison teen hide mother’s death
‘I’m the child who shot and killed her own mom’: Morrison teen sentenced to 20 years in prison in mother’s 2017 death
“It’s kind of slap in the face”; Police upset with judge’s decision not to charge Anna Schroeder with 1st-degree murder
Neighbors react to fire, death investigation of Morrison resident
Community healing begins after Morrison murder
Teen girl asks DEAF mother to cover face before shooting her in the head, enlists friend to cover up murder by setting house on fire, hides gun in cemetery
Teenage girl posts ‘love you’ after allegedly killing mom
Fundraiser started for Morrison mom’s funeral expenses
Anna Schroeder: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
Inside the prosecution debate: When kids kill

Angelina Costello

Name: Angelina Costello.
Died: July 6, 2017.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Injury, malnutrition.
Location: Ogden, Utah, USA.
Disability: Premature, medically fragile.

Details:
Angelina died from starvation, burns, and blunt trauma. She had been abused by her parents for essentially her entire life. Her parents believed that because she was born premature, she was “cursed”, and that her disability meant she brought bad luck to the family.

Case Status:
Brenda Emile (Mother), pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, sentenced to life without parole.
Miller Eric Costello (Father), pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated murder, sentenced to life without parole.

Sources:
‘Dehumanized and tortured by monsters’: Judge berates parents for horrific killing of toddler
The Awful Abuse 3-Year-Old Angelina Costello Suffered Before She Died — And How Her Mother Tried To Cover Up Her Wounds
Detective: On family videos, Angelina Costello ‘looks like a skeleton’
Costello pleads guilty in daughter’s starvation, beating death
Mother charged in brutal abuse death of 3-year-old can’t withdraw guilty plea, judge says