Status: Sentenced – Page 75 – Disability Day of Mourning

Zahra Baker

Photo of Zahra Baker, a girl with straight brown hair and freckles, smiling at something to the left of the viewer. Name: Zahra Baker.
Died: September 24, 2010.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Homicide, undetermined.
Location: Hickory, North Carolina, USA.
Disability: Leg amputee, hearing impairment, cancer survivor.

Details:
Zahra was born in Wagga-Wagga, Australia, and at five years old she survived bone cancer, though her leg had to be amputated. When she was eight, her father married an American woman and moved to North Carolina.

In the nine months before Zahra was reported missing, multiple reports of abuse came in to child protective services. Her mother took her out of school to “home-school” her.

More than a month after she went missing, Zahra’s body was found. It could not be determined how she died, but her stepmother admitted to killing her.

Case status:
Elisa Baker (Stepmother); pled guilty to murder; sentenced to 18 years. Sentence extended for 10 years on drug charges.

Source:
Murder of Zahra Baker

Teyshawn Young

Photo of Teyshawn Young. He is a toddler with dark skin, wearing a red shirt and a blue hat. Name: Teyshawn Daryl Young.
Died: September 20, 2010.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Blunt-force trauma.
Location: Toms River, New Jersey, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Teyshawn was beaten by his mother’s boyfriend; he died of blunt-force injuries to his stomach.

He liked dancing to his favorite TV shows and music.

Case status:
Corey C. Fitzgerald (Mother’s boyfriend), pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, sentenced to 12 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Teyshawn Young
NJ man faces prison for death of autistic child
Questions surround child’s death in New Jersey
Teyshawn Daryl Young Obituary

Marchella Brett-Pierce

Photo of Marchella Brett-Pierce, a girl with brown skin, her brown hair in messy pigtails. Around her neck is a tracheotomy collar. Name: Marchella Brett-Pierce .
Died: September 2, 2010.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: drug poisoning, blunt impact injuries and malnutrition.
Location: Brooklyn, New York, USA.
Disability: Medically fragile due to prematurity.

Details:
Marchella died of neglect, starvation, and physical abuse by her mother and grandmother.

Case status:
Carlotta Brett-Pierce (Mother), convicted of murder, sentenced to 32 years to life.
Loretta Brett (Grandmother), convicted of manslaughter, 5-15 years.

Source:
A Bleak Life, Cut Short at 4, Harrowing From the Start
Marchella Brett-Pierce’s brother brought food to her funeral so she could eat in heaven
The Tragic Path to a 4-Year-Old’s Death
Carlotta Brett-Pierce Found Guilty of Murder in Battered Daughter’s Death
Carlotta Brett-Pierce Sentenced To Decades In Prison For Death Of Battered Daughter
The Death of Marchella Pierce: Collaboration, Conflict, and Accountability in Child Protective Services
MARCHELLA PIERCE TIED TO HER BED, BEATEN, DRUGGED AND STARVED, DIED AT AGE 4 WEIGHING 18 POUNDS

Emily Molin

No Photo Name: Emily Belle Molin.
Died: August 31, 2010.
Age at death: 85.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Darby, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.

Details:
Emily’s son took her out of the nursing home where she had been staying. Then he deliberately ran her over with his car.

Case status:
Steven Frederick Molin (Son), convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced to 25 years.

Source:
Son Gets 25 Years For Running Over Mother
Son Ran Over His Mother On Purpose
Worcester Judge Denies Killer’s Bid For New Trial
Police: Delco man drove mom to MD, killed her |
Cops: Man who ran over mom angered over property transfer

Suellen Pike

Name: Suellen Pike.
Died: August 12, 2010 (Last seen).
Age at death: 62.
Cause of death: Missing, presumed dead.
Location: Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Hyperthyroidism, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, insomnia, migraines and arthritis.

Details:
Soon after she signed her house into his name, Suellen’s son killed her and dumped the body, which has not been found.

Case Status:
Stephen Jonathon Pike (Son), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 10-and-a-half years, 80% of which must be served before parole.

Sources:
Suellen PIKE
R v Pike
Stephen Pike jailed for 10-and-a-half years for killing mother, whose body has never been found, after she changed her will

Esther Moraa

No Photo Name: Esther Moraa.
Died: August 2, 2010.
Age at death: 4 months.
Cause of death: Suffocated.
Location: Bokimweri, Nyamache District, Kenya.
Disability: Albinism.

Details:
Esther’s father convinced her mother to kill her because she had been born with albinism. Her mother suffocated her, then dumped her body in the river.

Case status:
Sara Kemunto Nyabuto (Mother), sentenced to one year in prison. Esther’s father fled and was not arrested.

Source:
Mother jailed for killing albino baby
Kenya : Woman kills albino child to avoid bad omen
Kenya : When mother finds it easy to kill her child
Woman kills albino child to avoid bad omen

Janet Mackozdi

No Photo Name: Janet Mackozdi.
Died: July 23, 2010.
Age at death: 77.
Cause of death: Hypothermia.
Location: Mt. Lloyd, Tasmania, Australia.
Disability: Dementia, coronary vascular disease, mobility impaired.

Details:
Janet’s daughter and son-in-law made her live in an uninsulated shipping container on their property in midwinter, so they could make room in their house for boxes of their belongings. They spent her money, and did not care for her as her weight dropped, even though one was a nurse and the other a disability support worker. Temperatures dropped below freezing and she died of hypothermia.

Case status:
Jassy Anglin (Daughter), pleaded guilty to causing death by culpable negligence and received a 2-year suspended sentence.
Michael Anglin (Son-in-law), pleaded guilty to causing death by culpable negligence and received a 2-year suspended sentence.

Source:
Sam Connor on Twitter
Dead elderly woman had lost 15kg in her final year, inquest told
Inquest examines care of 77yo who died of hypothermia in shipping container
Couple pleads guilty to death of elderly relative housed in shipping container
Woman dies after being ‘forced to live in a shipping container’
Couple charged after mother freezes to death sleeping in shipping container
Couple avoids jail over mother’s death
Tragic mum couple walks
Elder abuse reform needed over 77yo’s shipping container death, coroner says
Tassie couple let her freeze to death: coroner

Jorene White

Photo of Jorene White, a middle-aged woman with light, freckled skin and brown hair, wearing a teal shirt. Name: Jorene White.
Died: July 23, 2010.
Age at death: 46.
Cause of death: Sepsis.
Location: Madisonville, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Severe arthritis.

Details:
Jorene’s husband neglected her. She died of infected bedsores.

Case status:
Darrel White (Husband), convicted of neglect; 5 years of probation.

Source:
Darrel White Allowed Bed-Ridden Wife Jorene White to Be Eaten Alive by Maggots

Louis Lockett

No Photo Name: Louis “Nap” Lockett.
Died: July 16, 2010.
Age at death: 73.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: St. Louis, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Cancer.

Details:
Louis’s wife shot him in the chest and killed him. She claims that she had intended only to hit him in the head with the gun, and it went off while she was hitting him.

Case status:
Josephine Lockett (Wife), convicted of involuntary manslaughter of a family member, sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Source:
Josephine Lockett kills husband during argument over $87
People vs. Josephine Lockett

Tomislav Svetina

No Photo Name: Tomislav Svetina.
Died: July 8, 2010.
Age at death: 74.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Doncaster, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Frail elder; bowel cancer survivor, heart disease, gout, tremor.

Details:
Tomislav told a family friend that he was afraid of his son, so he kept a hatchet by his bed for protection. His son cut the power to the house, entered his father’s bedroom, grabbed the hatchet from his father, and killed him with it. Though Tomislav had been violent toward his wife in the past, the court determined that he posed no threat to his son in his frail state, and that killing him with the hatchet had been a disproportionate response.

Before retirement, Tomislav worked as an electrician.

Case Status:
Zlatko “Boris” Svetina, convicted of defensive homicide, sentenced to 7-11 years in prison.

Sources:
R v Svetina
Son jailed for killing dad with axe