Status: Sentenced – Page 45 – Disability Day of Mourning

James Hill

Photo of James Hill, an adult man with black hair and light skin. He is smiling. He has a short goatee and mustache. Name: James Matthew Hill.
Died: February 18, 2016.
Age at death: 33.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Enterprise, Alabama, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
James was murdered by his roommate, who had also been his caregiver. Police say he was bound, blindfolded, and repeatedly stabbed.

Neighbors remember James as “a blessing” who would do anything for others. They often saw him going to a nearby restaurant, where he ate nearly every day.

Case status:
David Montel Cunningham (Caregiver; roommate); pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 40 years.

Source:
Enterprise man arrested in stabbing death
Enterprise man pleads guilty to murdering his roommate

Jeffrey Rak

No Photo Name: Jeffrey Alan Rak.
Died: February 14, 2016.
Age at death: 58.
Cause of death: Trauma in the setting of chronic illness.
Location: Burlington Township, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Alcoholism, epilepsy, COPD, heart disease, cirrhosis, chronic illness.

Details:
Jeffrey’s son hit him in the face; soon thereafter, he died.

Case status:
Daniel Rak (Son), acquitted of murder but convicted of aggravated domestic battery, sentenced to 4 years probation.

Source:
People v. Rak
Burlington Twp. man acquitted of murder gets probation for domestic battery
Attorney: Light ‘bop’ from son didn’t kill Burlington Township man
JEFFREY ALAN RAK DVM’s Memoriam on Daily Herald
Elburn man charged with father’s murder wants statements banned from trial
Prosecutors: Burlington murder suspect’s statements were voluntary
Man charged with killing his father in Burlington Township
Police: Signs of struggle at scene of Burlington Township death

Holli Jeffcoat

Name: Holli Jeffcoat.
Died: February 10, 2016.
Age at death: 18.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Idalou, Texas, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Holli told someone at school that she had been sexually abused and was pregnant, and named her stepfather as the person responsible. Holli had reported sexual abuse once before at age 10, but since then her mother, who knew about the abuse, had instructed her not to tell anyone about it because her abuser was financially supporting the family.

A week after she reported the abuse, Holli was found stabbed to death in her home; someone had removed her uterus, then set a fire to try to cover up the crime.

Holli loved pep rallies. She played baseball and ran track in the Special Olympics and worked as an office aide at her school.

Case status:
James Bryant Holland (Stepfather), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to life without parole.
Deborah Holland (mother), pleaded guilty to injury to a child, elder, or disabled person, sentenced to 15 years.

Source:
Mother sentenced to 15 years in connection to brutal murder of Holli Jeffcoat
Debi Holland, once charged for capital murder of her own daughter, pleads to lesser charge
Texas couple indicted in murder of woman’s pregnant teen daughter
Murdered Teen Was Found With Uterus Cut Out
Child Protective Services aiding in Lubbock sheriff’s homicide investigation
Search warrant: Homicide victim accused family member of sexual abuse a week before killing
Report: Murdered Idalou Teen Was Pregnant by Family Member, Mother Knew About Sexual Abuse
Nearly Two Months After Holli Jeffcoat’s Murder School Staff Share Memories, Hopes for Justice
Lubbock medical examiner releases cause of death in Jeffcoat case
Police arrest stepfather of slain 18-year-old special needs student
Family says Holli Jeffcoat ‘deserves justice’ after stepfather arrest
Holli Jeffcoat’s Grandmother Defends Mother, Says Murderer Must Pay Consequences
Texas man gets life sentence for murdering pregnant, mentally disabled stepdaughter
Mother still awaiting trial, 3 years after Holli Jeffcoat murder

Ethan Okula

Name: Ethan Okula.
Died: February 10, 2016.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Bowel obstruction.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability, hearing impaired, vision impaired, chronic illness including a bowel condition.

Details:
Ethan was at school when he began to experience severe stomach pain, so the school sent him home to his foster parents, recommending they take him to the hospital. But instead of getting him medical attention, they put him on the couch and left him there until he stopped breathing. When emergency services were finally called, he was dead from an untreated bowel obstruction.

Case status:
Denise Alston (Foster mother), pleaded guilty to tampering with public documents, sentenced to 3 years probation.
Carol Fletcher (Foster mother), pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child, sentenced to 8 months time served and probation.

Source:
A 10-year-old’s wholly preventable death
Finally, after two years, criminal charges in a child’s heartbreaking death
Couple who left 10-year-old foster kid dying on couch charged
Ethan Okula’s foster mother was sentenced in his tragic death. So many more are to blame
Finally, after two years, criminal charges in a child’s heartbreaking death

Rebecca Cutler

Name: Rebecca Cutler.
Died: February 10, 2016.
Age at death: 26.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Willowbrook, New York, USA.
Disability: Bipolar disorder, postpartum depression.

Details:
Rebecca and her three children were stabbed by her boyfriend. Rebecca and her two children, Maiyah and Ziana, died; her third child survived. Her boyfriend tried to claim that because she was bipolar, Rebecca had killed her children and he killed her in self-defense.

Case status:
Michael Sykes (Boyfriend), convicted of second-degree murder of Rebecca Cutler and first-degree murder of Maiyah and Ziana; sentenced to life without parole.

Source:
Monster who murdered two babies and their mom in Staten Island Ramada Inn massacre gets life without parole – New York Daily News
Mom killed the 2 kids, not me, testifies defendant in Ramada Inn massacre
Jury selected in hotel massacre murder trial
Man stabbed girlfriend, babies 69 times in S.I. slays: DA
Staten Island stabbing suspect arraigned on 3 counts of murder
Man Convicted of Killing Girlfriend in Hotel Room, But Not Her 2 Kids
Wake To Be Held For Mother, Children Killed In Staten Island Stabbing
New trial, new lawyer for defendant in Ramada Inn massacre

Ezra Miller

Name: Ezra Miller, also called Ezra Decker.
Died: February 3, 2016.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Blunt-force trauma.
Location: Staunton, Virginia, USA.
Disability: ADHD, bed-wetting, speech impediment.

Details:
Ezra was beaten to death by his father because he had wet the bed.

Case status:
Steven T. Decker (Father), convicted of second-degree murder and child abuse, sentenced to 26 1/2 years in prison and 3 years probation.
Brianna Connolly (Father’s girlfriend), pleaded guilty to felony child neglect, given a suspended 10-year sentence and served 3 days in jail.

Source:
Staunton man sentenced for killing his child: Decker case
At murder trial, witness says Decker’s son’s injuries ‘didn’t fit with story’
Child-killer’s accomplice girlfriend gets 3 DAY jail sentence for 6-year-old’s beating death

Digby Dowdle

Name: Digby Dowdle.
Died: January 23, 2016.
Age at death: 26.
Cause of death: Poisoning, asphyxiation.
Location: Wadalba, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: TBI due to car accident.

Details:
Digby’s mother sedated him and then suffocated him with a plastic bag.

Digby was often seen walking his greyhound Lucy.

Case Status:
Susan Marie Dowdle (Mother), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 2 years; released on time served.

Sources:
CENTRAL COAST MOTHER WHO KILLED SON RELEASED FROM PRISON | NBN News
In loving Memory Of my friend Digby Dowdle 1989 – 2016
’Kind’ mum charged with son’s murder
Digby Dowdle (26) Allegedly suffocated by his mother
R v Susan Dowdle

Samantha Kelly

Photo of Samantha Kelly. She has fair skin and bright red shoulder-length hair, and is wearing sunglasses. Name: Samantha Kelly.
Died: January 22, 2016.
Age at death: 39.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Kangaroo Flat, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Samantha and her four children lived with three housemates. The housemates eventually banned her from the main house and made her live in a rear bungalow, while they kept her children in the main house. Seeing the danger, Samantha asked a social worker to help her move out, but she never managed to escape.

Her housemates first tried drugging her. When that didn’t work, they beat her to death with a hammer and buried her body; then they claimed she had run off with a man and tried to take custody of her children.

The children, aged six, five, four, and 11 months, are safe and living with Samantha’s brother.

Case status:
Peter James Arthur (Housemate), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 18-22 years.
Christine Lyons (Housemate), convicted of murder and attempted murder, sentenced to 23-30 years.
Ronald Lyons (Housemate), convicted of attempted murder and assisting an offender, sentenced to 9-12 1/2 years.

Source:
Loner jailed over murder plot to steal kids
Bendigo man jailed for murdering woman with hammer over custody plot
‘Manipulated’ murder accused deeply regrets hammer killing of housemate
Vic accused killer wanted kids, court told
Vic murder accused said victim walked off
Christine was infertile and “desperately” wanted kids. So she masterminded a sick plan.
How a mother got trapped in squalid web of a woman who wanted to be ‘Ma’
Crown asks for life sentence as family grieves Samantha Kelly
‘I will never forgive you’: Murder victim’s family address killer who tried to take kids
Former Ballarat woman still denies she killed mum to gain custody of her kids
Woman jailed for 30 years for murdering mother to take her kids
Infertile woman planned murder of disabled neighbour to take custody of her four kids

Adilynn Moseman

Name: Adilynn Moseman
Died: January 21, 2016.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Malnutrition, pneumonia.
Location: Terre Haute, Indiana, USA.
Disability: Mitochondrial disease, microcephaly, cerebral palsy, deafblind.

Details:
Adilynn died because her parents starved her to death. At five years old, the little girl weighed just under 17 pounds. She had six- and seven-year-old siblings who were forbidden to play with her. She died of malnutrition and pneumonia.

Case status:
Tiffany Daugherty (Mother), pleaded guilty to neglect and reckless homicide, sentenced to 15 years.
Brian Moseman (Father), pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in death, given two 2 1/2-year suspended sentences, returned to prison after violating parole by drug possession.

Source:
Father in child-death case back in jail on probation, drug charges
Man sentenced to probation in connection to child starvation death arrested on meth charges
Indiana woman who starved daughter to death says 15-year sentence is ‘inappropriate’
Indiana court upholds mother’s 15-year term in neglect death
Despite early intervention, little girl died among neglect allegations
Vigo County couple arrested on neglect charges after death of 5-year-old girl who weighed 16 pounds
Vigo County Couple Face Charges After Five Year Old’s Death
Vigo Co. couple accused of starving 5-year-old daughter to death
Indiana couple charged with neglect in death of 5-year-old
One Parent Charged In Death Of Child Posts Bond
August trial date set in case of Terre Haute 5-year-old who died of starvation
Mother Accused In Daughter’s Death Now Faces More Charges
Vigo County mother in child-death case faces new charges
Trials moved for couple arrested in connection to death of 5-year-old
Indiana mom pleas in death of disabled 5-year-old daughter
Woman accused of neglecting her child to the point of death back in jail, accused of failing to report to probation…three times
Indiana mother sentenced to 15 years in the neglect death of her disabled five-year-old daughter
Man receives suspended sentence in daughter’s neglect death

Irene Carter

Black-and-white photo of Irene Carter, a woman with fair skin and dark curly hair, wearing pearl earrings. Name: Irene Carter.
Died: January 13, 2016.
Age at death: 78.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
Disability: Schizophrenia.

Details:
Irene loved gardening and kept an immaculate yard.

When Irene had a psychotic episode, her daughter took over power of attorney and gradually took away her freedom, selling her cars and taking her bank cards. When her daughter remortgaged her house and Irene protested, her daughter stabbed her, slammed her head against the floor, and threw her down the stairs, killing her.

Case status:
Lisa Freihaut (Adoptive daughter), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 11 years to life.

Source:
Gambling addict who stabbed elderly mother to death in dispute over money pleads guilty to murder
Calgary woman who begged for information on her mom’s killing pleads guilty to her murder
Lisa Freihaut Charged With Stabbing Death Of Her Mother Irene Carter
CARTER Irene › Gone But Not Forgotten