Status: Sentenced – Page 58 – Disability Day of Mourning

Joann Canfield

No Photo Name: Joann Canfield.
Died: October 26, 2014.
Age at death: 72.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Alameda, California, USA.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Joann’s husband took her home from her nursing home and, after a failed attempt to poison her with sleeping pills, shot her in the head.

Case status:
Jerry “J.C.” Canfield (Husband), pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter, sentenced to 3 years.

Source:
He Shot His Wife and Confessed — Why Neighbors Are Coming to His Defense
3 years for Alameda man who claimed mercy in wife’s killing

Debbie Holden

Name: Debbie Holden.
Died: October 24, 2014.
Age at death: 58.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Jacksonville, North Carolina, USA.
Disability: Chronic pain.

Details:
Debbie’s fiance shot her; then he tried to claim that Debbie must have committed suicide because of her chronic pain. Police became suspicious when they couldn’t find the bullet that had killed Debbie until her fiance turned up at the hospital with a matching bullet in his thigh.

Case Status:
Tim Noble (Fiance), convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to life without parole.

Sources:
Telltale Bullets, Exhumations, Staged Murders: Most Shocking ‘Accident, Suicide Or Murder’ Reveals
Man Passes Out, Urinates Himself After Being Questioned About Fiancée’s Murder

Noama Ware

Blurry photo of a white-haired old lady with pale, wrinkled skin, her mouth open as though she is about to speak. Name: Noama Ware.
Died: October 2014.
Age at death: 78.
Cause of death: Undetermined, in the setting of abuse and neglect.
Location: Shelley, Idaho, USA.
Disability: Frail elder, likely dementia/hoarding.

Details:
Noama’s husband and son both abused her. After an argument about her keeping her many cats in her bedroom, her son kicked her, injuring her severely; and then as she lay in bed, her grandson kicked her. They found her dead shortly thereafter.

Afraid that they would get in trouble because Noama was malnourished and abused, they buried her body in their duck pen, and her death went unnoticed for five years until her daughter died in a car accident and the police tried to find her to break the news.

Case status:
Harley Howell (Grandson), pleaded guilty to failure to report a death, sentenced to 3-10 years in prison.
Douglas Howell (Son), pleaded guilty to abuse and neglect of an elder, sentenced to 4 days in jail, $387.50 in fees, and 50 hours community service.

Source:
Local man sentenced to four days in jail for abuse and neglect of 78 year-old woman
Man admits to killing his grandmother and burying her in the backyard nearly 5 years ago
Shelley man sentenced after hiding grandmother’s death
Teen ‘killed bedridden grandma after row about her keeping 30 cats in her room’
Man admits to killing his grandmother and burying her in the backyard nearly 5 years ago

Bessie Looney

No Photo Name: Bessie Looney.
Died: September 29, 2014.
Age at death: 82.
Cause of death: Malnutrition, sepsis.
Location: Baton Rouge, USA.
Disability: Dementia, heart disease, wheelchair user.

Details:
Bessie’s daughter and granddaughter neglected her. She was left strapped into a wheelchair, denied her medication, and not brought to the doctor when she became very sick. She died of starvation and septic shock from untreated bedsores.

Case status:
Joleslie Looney (daughter), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 40 years.
Lauren Looney (granddaughter), pleaded guilty to negligent homicide, sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Source:
Louisiana high court upholds sentence in mom’s bedsore death
Woman pleads guilty to negligent homicide in 82-year-old grandmother’s death
Granddaughter pleads guilty to negligent homicide in 82-year-old woman’s gruesome 2014 death
Death of elderly Baton Rouge woman ruled a homicide
82-year-old found dead at home surrounded by flies, trash; two arrested
Doctors say woman facing charges was sane during the time of the death of her elderly mother
Baton Rouge woman declared sane when elderly mother died amidst deplorable conditions
Baton Rouge woman to be tried Aug. 28 in death of 82-year-old mother found in deplorable conditions
Daughter faces trial in death of bedsore-ridden mother, 82
Attorney for Baton Rouge woman accused of killing her mother doesn’t want her called ‘evil,’ ‘monster’ during trial
Elderly woman’s daughter told Baton Rouge police she wasn’t aware of severity of mother’s bedsores
‘A hard-working person that struggled,’ friends say of woman accused in elderly mother’s death
Daughter swiftly convicted of manslaughter in elderly mother’s 2014 bedsore-related death
Woman’s sentencing delayed in gruesome 2014 bedsore-related death of 82-year-old mother
Woman leaves grandmother in waste-covered wheelchair until bedsores kill her
Granddaughter sentenced in 82-year-old Baton Rouge woman’s bedsore-related death
Woman denied reduced sentence in death of elderly, malnourished mother
Judge won’t reduce Baton Rouge woman’s 40-year prison term in bedsore-related death of mother
Attorney says 40 years in bedsore-related death of 82-year-old woman is excessive punishment
Louisiana court upholds woman’s prison term for mom’s bedsore death
Court upholds woman’s prison term for mom’s bedsore death
Baton Rouge woman’s conduct ‘reprehensible’ in elderly mother’s bedsore death, appeals court says

Mr. Zhang

Photo of a young Asian boy with tan skin and black hair, wearing a sports jersey, his hands to his neck, looking puzzled. Name: Zhang (First name unknown).
Died: September 13, 2014.
Age at death: 7.
Cause of death: Fall injury.
Location: Singapore.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
This 7-year-old boy was found dead on the ground outside a high-rise apartment building after being pushed out the 9th-story window by his mother.

Case status:
Koh Sook Hoon (Mother); pleaded guilty to culpable homicide, sentenced to 5 years.

Source:
Woman who threw her son from 9th storey flat jailed 5 years
Autism Memorial: Zhang (7-year-old male)
Seven-year-old boy found dead at the foot of a Tampines HDB block; police investigating
Mother of boy found dead at Tampines to face murder charge
Mother of seven-year-old boy found dead in Tampines arrested for alleged murder
Singaporean mother charged with killing autistic 7-year-old son
Mentally-ill mother gets five years’ jail for death of son
Jailed for pushing autistic son out of window

Raashanai Coley

Photo of a girl with light-brown skin, brown curly hair, and a wide smile; she is wearing a black hat with a floppy brim. Name: Raashanai Coley.
Died: September 6, 2014.
Age at death: 11.
Cause of death: Internal injuries.
Location: Waukegan, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Speech delay, possibly autism.

Details:
Raashanai was beaten and starved by her mother; she died of injuries from a beating, left untreated for three days.

Case status:
Nicholette Lawrence (Mother), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 43 years in prison.

Source:
Judge to Waukegan woman who killed daughter: ‘How can humans do this?’
Prosecutors ask for life sentence in Waukegan girl’s beating death
System failed to avert battered child’s slaying
Find A Grave: Raashanai J. Coley (2003 – 2014)
Homeschooling’s Invisible Children: Raashanai Coley
Raashanai Coley in Oregon speech therapy
Autism Memorial: Raashanai Coley
How Murder Victims With Disabilities Get Blamed For Their Own Deaths

Dayne Hathman

Photo of a small boy with white-blond hair and fair skin, standing on a red plastic swing seat, head thrown back, laughing. Name: Dayne William Hathman; also spelled “Dane”.
Died: August 28, 2014.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Fulton, Missouri, USA.
Disability: Down syndrome.

Details:
Dayne was shot to death by his live-in babysitter.

Case status:
Scottie A. Willet (Family friend; caregiver); pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to life without parole.

Source:
Slain 6-year-old loved to play, give hugs
Callaway County Sheriff’s Office – Posts | Facebook

Isaac Robitille

Photo of Isaac Robitille, a young boy with fair skin and shaggy brown hair. His facial features are atypical, with a small, flat nose. He is sitting tilted back in a power chair outdoors, eyes closed, with the sun on his face. Name: Isaac Robitille.
Died: August 22, 2014.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Alcohol poisoning.
Location: Hardwick, Vermont, USA.
Disability: Holoprosencephaly.

Details:
Isaac was killed by his mother and her boyfriend; they put so much alcohol into his feeding tube (some news stories say it was an IV) that he died of alcohol poisoning.

Case status:
Melissa Robitille (Mother), charged with second-degree murder, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 4 years, sentence reduced to 3 1/2 years.
Walter Richter III (Mother’s boyfriend), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 3 years in prison with credit for 1 1/2 years time served.

Source:
Hardwick mom convicted in disabled son’s death gets reduced sentence
Woman convicted in disabled child’s death appeals again
Vt. woman convicted in disabled son’s death appeals again
Vermont mom, boyfriend kill disabled 13-year-old by putting alcohol in IV: cops
Man Sentenced After Killing Boy With Vodka
Vermont Woman Found Guilty of Manslaughter for Pouring Vodka in Disabled Child’s Feeding Tube
Mother who put vodka in disabled son’s feeding tube leading to his death gets appeal rejected in court

Jacee Sanner

Photo of Jacee Sanner, in black and white. The photo is cropped so that just her face can be seen. Jacee is a young girl with fair skin. She is smiling and looking away to the side. Name: Jacee Lynn Sanner.
Died: August 10, 2014.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Neglect.
Location: Wilson, Oklahoma, USA.
Disability: Brain injury from fever in infancy.

Details:
Jacee died of severe neglect; she weighed only 23 pounds when she died, less than half of what she had weighed only two months earlier, and she had not been given her seizure medication.

Jacee liked listening to her sister sing.

Case status:
Ashley Naoma Milligan (Mother), convicted of child neglect, sentenced to 1 year 6 months prison and 8 years 6 months probation.

Source:
Jacee Sanner – Sunday, August 10th, 2014
Review of the Death of Jacee L. Sanner
Four children dead or nearly died from abuse had prior DHS contact
Jacee Lynn Sanner
Ok Offender Search

Sophie Kostek

No Photo Name: Sophie Kostek.
Died: August 7, 2014.
Age at death: 88.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Somerset, Maryland, USA.
Disability: Unspecified.

Details:
Sophie’s son beat her to death.

She enjoyed reading and caring for her home.

Case status:
Michael Kostek (Son), pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and permitting injury to an elder/disabled person, sentenced to 8-10 years.

Source:
Somerset man sentenced in mother’s killing | WJAR
Sophie (Provocyck) Kostek – Obituary
Somerset man pleads guilty in death of disabled mother
Prosecutors allege Somerset man hit elderly, disabled mother and threw her on bed, where she was found dead
Trial date set for Somerset man accused of killing mother
Trial date scheduled for Somerset man accused in mother’s murder
Boyko Memorial Funeral Home – Sophie (Provocyck) Kostek – Obituary
Somerset man held without bail in killing of mother
Lawyer for Somerset man accused of killing mom asks for medical records
Somerset man charged with killing elderly mother
Somerset man indicted on murder charge in death of elderly mother