Tag: 18

Dominic Paddock-Wood

Photo of a small boy with brown skin and tightly curled short black hair, smiling for the camera. His ears stick out slightly. He is wearing a bright orange T-shirt.Name: Dominic Landon Paddock-Wood.
Died: July 15, 2022.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Cocaine and Fentanyl poisoning.
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA.
Disability: Epilepsy.

Details:
Dominic was found unresponsive in his mother’s house, in a dangerously filthy environment. He was declared dead, and an autopsy revealed he had died from poisoning with cocaine and Fentanyl. His mother and her boyfriend were arrested and charged with child neglect.

Case Status:
Noel Wood (Mother), charged with neglect of a dependent causing death.
Jonathan Mulvihill (Mother’s boyfriend), charged with neglect of a dependent causing death.

Sources:
Police arrest couple in connection to death of 4-year-old
Police searching for couple wanted in child neglect death
Couple arrested in connection to death of four-year-old
Fort Wayne couple arrested on neglect charges after death of 4-year-old child
Dominic Paddock-Wood Obituary – Fort Wayne, IN

Logan Starling

Photo of a small boy with blond hair, smiling for the camera, holding up a construction-paper cut-out Elmo.Name: Logan Starling.
Died: September 28, 2018.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Heat stroke.
Location: Orlando, Florida, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Logan’s father remembers him as “my little Logo on the go go”, a hyperactive child who would hop around like a kangaroo. He liked watching the SunRail trains and pretending they were Thomas the Tank Engine. He went to school in a pre-K class.

Logan’s father’s fiance left him locked inside her van on a hot day in Florida, parked outside the school. He died of heat stroke and wasn’t found until 2:30 in the afternoon.

Logan’s great-aunt says that Logan was not the sort of quiet child who could be forgotten in a van by accident; if he wasn’t there, you would notice it.

Case status:
Mariah Butler (Father’s girlfriend), pleaded guilty to child neglect, sentenced to 5 years probation.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Logan Starling
Woman pleads guilty to child neglect in Logan Starling death – Orlando Sentinel
Happening today: Woman accused of leaving 4-year-old boy in hot car to die to be sentenced
Woman accused in death of 4-year-old boy released on bond
After boy’s hot-car death, 4-year-old Logan Starling’s family seeks answersl

Judson Duncan

Photo of Judson Duncan, a young man wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a flannel shirt. He has fair skin and brown hair, and is making a thumbs-up gesture.Name: Judson Cash Duncan.
Died: March 19, 2017.
Age at death: 21.
Cause of death: Auto accident.
Location: Antlers, Oklahoma, USA.
Disability: Unspecified.

Details:
Judson’s father put him in the car and led the police in a high-speed chase. He crashed the car, killing Judson. It is unknown whether the wreck was an accident, but since Judson died because his father endangered him during the course of the commission of a crime, his father was charged with felony murder.

Case status:
Carl Duncan (Father), pleaded guilty to felony murder, sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Source:
Judson Cash Duncan – View Obituary & Service Information
Okla man to serve 30 years in prison for killing son
Oklahoma man sentenced to prison for murder after disabled son dies in car crash
Fatal wreck may not have been an accident, Denison Police say
Judson Duncan Obituary – Antlers, Oklahoma
Man pleads guilty to murder in son’s death

Taariq Cross

Photo of a young boy with dark skin, large brown eyes, and short dark-brown hair.Name: Taariq Cross.
Died: July 11, 2012.
Age at death: 7.
Cause of death: Hit by car.
Location: Orlando, Florida, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Taariq was left unsupervised and was fatally hit by a car. He had often been left to fend for himself, and just days previously had nearly been hit by a car while unsupervised.

Case status:
Latasha Kendrick (Mother). Not charged.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Taariq Cross
Innocents lost: Taariq Cross, 7
FHP: Autistic boy run over, killed
Taariq Cross: Family wants answers after autistic boy’s tragic death
Petition: Kendrick should face criminal charges for death of Autistic 7yr old son

3-year-old girl

No PhotoName Unknown.
Died: December 4, 2021.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Townsville, Queensland, Canada.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
This toddler girl’s father, who was the only adult home to take care of her and her two-year-old brother, had been awake for 31 hours, taking and selling methamphetamine. He was sleeping it off when his three-year-old daughter opened the unlocked front door, left the house, and drowned in a storm drain. Prosecutors called his drug use “criminally negligent” and the little girl’s death “entirely preventable”.

Case Status:
Her father pleaded guilty to manslaughter and child endangerment.

Sources:
Father found guilty of non-verbal, autistic daughter’s manslaughter after drowning death