Status: Sentenced – Page 90 – Disability Day of Mourning

Christopher DeGroot

No Photo Name: Christopher Aire DeGroot.
Died: May 19, 2006.
Age at death: 19.
Cause of death: Fire.
Location: Albany, Oregon, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Christopher’s parents locked him in his room and bolted it with a deadbolt. Then they set a fire in their home and left Christopher to burn to death.

Case status:
Nicolaas DeGroot (Father), pleaded no contest to criminally negligent homicide, sentenced to 6 months in jail.
Agnes DeGroot (Mother), pleaded no contest to criminally negligent homicide, sentenced to 6 months in jail.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Christopher DeGroot
Autistic Teen Struggled To Get Out Of Blazing Apartment
Couple Charged with Setting Fire to Kill Autistic Teen Son
Couple sentenced in fire death of autistic son

Katherine McCarron

Name: Katherine “Katie” McCarron Photo of Katie McCarron, a toddler girl with blond hair and pale skin, wearing a blue summer dresss, sitting on the carpet and playing with a Teletubby toy. .
Died: May 13, 2006.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Morton, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Katie’s mother suffocated her with a plastic bag because she would not take a nap, saying that she had done it “to end [Katie’s] pain”.

Case status:
Karen McCarron (Mother); convicted of first degree murder; sentenced to 36 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Katie McCarron
Karen McCarron
“Katie McCarron”, CCDI
“Board Suspends Dr. McCarron’s License Indefinitely”
“Grandfather says Murder had nothing to do with Autism”
Katie McCarron, Charles-Antoine Blais, real children, real people.

Jasmine and Minnet Bowman

Portrait photo of Minnet and Jasmine Bowman. They are young, dark-skinned girls with their hair in braids and barrettes, smiling at the camera. — Minnet Bowman, left, and Jasmine Bowman.

Name: Jasmine Nicole Bowman.
Age at death: 7.

Name: Minnet Cecelia Bowman.
Age at death: 9.

Died: May 2006.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Montgomery County, Maryland, USA.
Disability: Unspecified “special needs”.

Details:
Both Jasmine and Minnet were smothered by their adoptive mother. She then put their bodies in a freezer and continued to collect the subsidies she got for adopting special-needs children.

Case status:
Renee Bowman (Adoptive mother), murder, sentenced to 2 life terms plus 75 years without parole.

Source:
Renee Bowman

Graeme Wylie

Name: Graeme Wylie.
Died: March 22, 2006.
Age at death: 71.
Cause of death: Barbiturate poisoning.
Location: Cammeray, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.

Details:
Graeme had Alzheimer’s disease. His wife took him to Switzerland, hoping to have him euthanized; but the Swiss doctors told her that Graeme’s dementia was too severe for him to be able to consent to such a thing, and refused her. At the time, Graeme had moderate-to-severe dementia and was unable to remember things like how many children he had or what his birthday was.

Still intent on her husband’s death, Graeme’s wife asked a friend to travel to Mexico and buy her a high dose of a veterinary sedative. She administered this drug to Graeme, killing him.

Graeme’s daughters told reporters that Graeme had never said anything about suicide to them, and pointed out that his wife stood to inherit a large amount in his will when he died.

Graeme was a retired airline pilot.

Case Status:
Shirley Justins (Wife), found guilty of manslaughter, sentenced to 22-30 months of weekend detention.
Caren Jenning (Family friend), found guilty of being an accessory to manslaughter, died before sentencing.

Sources:
Dr Death chose life for Graeme
Woman gave Alzheimer’s husband fatal dose of drugs after Swiss authorities refused legal euthanasia
The death of Graeme Wylie
Graeme Wylie died a lonely death, says daughter.
Euthansia killer Shirley Justin escapes jail

Hevin Jenkins

Photo of Hevin Jenkins, a baby looking at the camera over the bottle he is holding and sucking on. Name: Hevin Dakota James Lee Jenkins.
Died: December 15, 2005.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Drowned.
Location: Hurricane, West Virginia, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Hevin was drowned by his aunt, and her boyfriend disposed of his body, which has never been found.

Case status:
Tonya Sloan (Aunt), second-degree murder, sentenced to 40 years.
Anthony Milam (Aunt’s boyfriend), accessory after the fact, sentenced to 1 year in prison.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Hevin Jenkins
Hevin Dakota James Lee Jenkins
Woman charged in her autistic nephew’s death

Nikolas Chavez III

Black and white photo of Nikolas Chavez, a toddler with wispy, curly blonde hair, wearing a onesie and a puzzled expression. Name: Nikolas Chavez III.
Died: November 30, 2005.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
Disability: Developmental disability.

Details:
Nikolas was beaten to death by his godfather.

Case status:
Robert Knutsen (Godfather); sentenced to 7 years, served 4 years and released.

Source:
Nikolas Tyler Chavez III
Trial begins of N.B. man accused of beating his godson to death

B. L.

No Photo Name: B. L. (Initials; full name unknown.)
Died: November 26, 2005.
Age at death: 13 months.
Cause of death: Brain damage; shaken baby.
Location: Alberta, Canada.
Disability: Developmental delay.

Details:
B. L. died of shaken baby syndrome, caused by his foster father.

Case status:
His foster father pleaded guilty to manslaughter; he was sentenced to five years, paroled within 2 years.

Source:
Learning from a sad, short life

Jason Ritzert

Photo of Jason Ritzert, an man wearing a headband and casual clothes and sitting on a dirt bike. He has a tattoo on his right arm. Name: Jason Ritzert.
Died: November 10, 2005.
Age at death: 30.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Jason’s roommates, who often abused him under the pretext of “punishing” him, set him on fire and then left his severe burns untreated for days before strangling him.

Case status:
Timothy Caldwell, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, sentenced to life in prison.
Melissa Adams, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, sentenced to 30-60 years.
Russell Lee Hilliard, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, sentenced to 20-40 years.

Source:
Butler pair held in ‘bizarre’ killing of roommate

Mary Mount

Name: Mary Mount.
Died: October 19, 2005 (Body found; died around January 4, 2004).
Age at death: 28.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: Cape Coral, Florida, USA.
Disability: Russell Silver Syndrome.

Details:
Mary left home to stay in a hotel room with her boyfriend. Sometime during that time, she disappeared. Her boyfriend was questioned; initially, he said that she had taken her car and left, then that she had died of natural causes and he had buried her body. Years later, new evidence led to murder charges, and he admitted to smothering Mary to death.

Case Status:
Terry Daniel McDonald (Boyfriend), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 25 years.

Sources:
Man sentenced to 25 years in prison for 2004 killing of Lee County woman
Terry McDonald charged with murder of Mary Mount, State Attorney’s Office says
Man sentenced to 25 years in prison for 2004 killing of Lee County woman
El Paso Police Department Voluntary Statement
Family says suspect has gotten away with murder for 14 years

Stefanie Brummer

Name: Stefanie Christina Brummer.
Died: September 18, 2005.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Eagleby, Logan, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Stefanie’s mother smothered her. She was reportedly frustrated with the child for “doing the wrong thing and being naughty”.

Case Status:
Alice Maree Potter (Mother), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 3-8 years.

Sources:
R v Potter; ex parte A-G (Qld) [2008] QCA
Mother smothers 5yo to death