26 – Page 2 – Disability Day of Mourning

Eunice Phiri

No Photo Name: Eunice Phiri.
Died: January 28, 2016.
Age at death: 53.
Cause of death: Blood loss.
Location: Kasungu National Park, Malawi.
Disability: Albinism.

Details:
Eunice’s brother lured her and her 8-year-old son, who also has albinism, out of her home and into a nearby national park. There, they killed her by cutting off her arms. Her 8-year-old son escaped and found his way back home.

Case status:
Msasauko Phiri (Brother), and two others, under investigation.

Source:
Woman with albinism killed in Malawi: no isolated incident
Albino woman murdered in Kasungu: Malawi Police hunt for killers
Malawi: Ritual murders of people with albinism must end

Andeng

Name: Andeng (Last name unknown).
Died: July 19, 2015.
Age at death: Adult.
Cause of death: Abuse.
Location: Bulacan, Philippines.
Disability: Mental illness; recent surgery; wheelchair user.

Details:
Andeng’s sister was videotaped by a passer-by, slapping and berating her on the street as she sat in a wheelchair. Days later, she was dead, and police say that abuse played a significant role in her death.

Case status:
Her sister, under investigation.

Source:
Wheelchair user suffers vicious assault at the hands of older sister, police say

Brooke MacBeth

Photo of a young woman with fair skin and brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing a scarf over a beige sweater. Name: Brooke MacBeth.
Died: Unknown. Body found May 3, 2015, six months to a year after death.
Age at death: 28.
Cause of death: Unknown.
Location: Lakeside, California, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
What happened to Brooke is unknown. All we know is that she was found dead, weighing only forty pounds, stuffed into a suitcase in her mother’s apartment, with amphetamine, marijuana, and oxycodone in her system. An autopsy did not find evidence of trauma, but most such evidence would no longer have been detectable because Brooke had been in the suitcase for several months.

Brooke’s teachers remember her strong voice, engaging smile, and long ponytail.

Case status:
Bonnie MacBeth (mother), no charges.

Source:
Teachers Remember Former Student Found Dead in Suitcase
Officials Make Disturbing Discovery While Serving Eviction Notice
Officials: Body found in trunk was woman’s daughter
Loved ones remember life of disabled woman found in suitcase
Disabled Woman’s Body Found in Suitcase at Mom’s San Diego-Area Home Weighed Just 40 Pounds: Autopsy
Body Found in Suitcase Identified
Woman in suitcase likely died of natural causes: ME

5-year-old boy

Photo of a small boy, with a censor blur obscuring the face. The child has blond hair and fair skin and is wearing a blue hoodie. Name Unknown.
Died: March 26, 2015.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Drug overdose.
Location: Pennant Hills, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Epilepsy, Hepatitis C.

Details:
This young boy had allegedly been abused by his foster family before he died of an overdose of several drugs, including diazepam, morphine, and other opiates.

He had been taken from his birth mother because she used drugs.

Case status:
His foster family is under investigation.

Source:
Five-year-old foster boy had ‘toxic drug cocktail’ in system at death, reports
Dead five-year-old foster child “had drugs in system”
Five-Year-Old Boy Who Died in Foster Care Had Heroin in His System
Police investigate death of boy, five, in notorious foster home
Boy, five, in foster care died with a cocktail of drugs in his system
Boy, 5, dies under same care as Girl X

Kendrea Johnson

Photo of Kendrea Johnson. She is an African-American girl wearing a yellow dress, her hair in hair clips. She has her hands on her hips and is leaning forward, lips puckered, as though she is trying to kiss the camera. Name: Kendrea Johnson.
Died: December 27, 2014.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Hanging.
Location: Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, USA.
Disability: PTSD.

Details:
Foster child Kendrea was showing signs of severe mental illness; she had been experiencing suicidal ideation every day for months. But her foster home did nothing to help her; instead, she was threatened with beatings and locked in her room. Four times, her foster home was reported for neglect, but not investigated.

Kendrea was found hanging from her bunk bed with a jump rope tied around her neck; the death was ruled a “ligature hanging” and showed all the signs of suicide, including a suicide note reading “I’m sorry”. If that is the case, then Kendrea’s death was the result of neglect, with her mental illness left untreated to the point that the little girl died by suicide. However, Kendrea’s grandmother believes her death was a murder rather than a suicide, since the knot in the jump rope might have been too complex for a six-year-old to tie.

Case status:
Tannise Nawaqavou (foster mother), foster care license revoked.
$1.5 million settlement paid to Kendrea’s grandmother by Hennepin County.

Source:
SiebenCarey and NewmarkStorms File Civil Lawsuit Following Death of Six-Year-Old in Foster Care
String of failures came before suicidal 6-year-old’s death
Did 6-year-old Brooklyn Park girl kill herself? Police wonder
Hennepin County officials say little about death of girl in Brooklyn Park foster-care home
Girl, 6, died by hanging in foster care. County settles with family for $1.5 million.
$1.5 million settlement in Minnesota six-year-old’s foster care death
Minnesota girl, 6, died by hanging in foster care. Hennepin County settles with family for $1.5 million.

Samauri Page

No Photo Name: Samauri J. Page.
Died: November 30, 2014.
Age at death: 14.
Cause of death: Diabetic ketoacidosis.
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Juvenile diabetes, autism.

Details:
Samauri died of diabetic ketoacidosis because he had been either not given enough to eat, or not given his insulin.

His favorite sport was wrestling.

Case status:
Bakari J. Page (Father), under investigation.

Source:
Samauri J. Page
Autism Memorial: Samauri Page
Diabetic teen dies despite multiple warnings to Children Services

Patrick

No Photo Name: “Patrick” (Family name unknown).
Died: November 2014.
Age at death: 17.
Cause of death: Multiple organ failure.
Location: Bedford, England, UK.
Disability: Coffin-Lowry syndrome.

Details:
Patrick’s care was neglected by his grandmother. He was kept in a filthy room without a working light. By the time he was hospitalized, he weighed only 95 pounds, had bruises all over his body, and was in multiple organ failure. He died age 17.

Patrick was good at swimming and had just learned cycling. Despite his limited ability to speak, he had memorized all of his classmates’ names.

Case status:
His grandmother was interviewed for case review. Belford Borough Safeguarding Children Board concluded that the agency did not adequately support Patrick’s needs or ensure that his grandmother cared for him adequately.

Source:
Disabled teenager who died weighing just 6 stone was ‘invisible’ to social services
‘Neglected’ disabled Bedford teen ‘unsupported’ by social services before ‘shocking’ death
Tragic death of ‘invisible’ Bedford teen failed by system
Patrick Final Report for PUBLICATION 23.5.16

Marcia Clark

Photo of Marcia Clark. She is a thin elderly woman with pale skin and gray hair, wearing glasses and a purple long-sleeved shirt. Name: Marcia Clark.
Died: July 20, 2014.
Age at death: 83.
Cause of death: Starvation and infection.
Location: Taree, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Frail elder; caregiver claimed dementia and Parkinson’s.

Details:
Marcia died of infected bed sores and starvation after being neglected by her daughter.

The death was ruled as having been of “natural causes… the combined effects of severe malnutrition and infection… after a period of being neglected by her carer.”

Case status:
Nardia Clark (Daughter), no charges; went missing, found dead in 2016.

Source:
How the system failed this elderly mother and her daughter who couldn’t cope
Death of Marcia Clark: Coroner finds daughter struggled to care for elderly mother
Findings Marcia Clark.pdf

Susan Simonetti

Photo of Susan Simonetti, a woman with curly dark hair and olive-toned skin, smiling for the camera. The photo has a faint watermark or stamp on it. Name: Susan Simonetti.
Died: January 18, 2014.
Age at death: 56.
Cause of death: Neglect-related.
Location: New Britain, Connecticut, USA.
Disability: Unspecified.

Details:
Susan’s brother was under investigation for her death when her mother also died from neglect in similar circumstances.

Case status:
Frank Simonetti (Brother), no charges; charged later for a similar neglect death of his mother, Michaelina Simonetti.

Source:
New Britain Man Charged With Manslaughter In 93-Year-Old Mother’s Death

Shirley Neumann

Photo of Shirley Neumann, an elderly woman with short gray hair and fair, wrinkled skin. She is wearing a white blouse and pearl earrings. Name: Shirley Neumann.
Died: October 31, 2013.
Age at death: 77.
Cause of death: Fall.
Location: Fenton, Missouri, USA.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Shirley Neumann’s death was initially thought to be an accident. Her daughter, who visited her at her retirement home, was the last person to see her alive; when her daughter left, she told staff that Shirley would not be down for dinner. In the morning, Shirley was found dead beneath her broken fourth-floor balcony, having fallen to her death. Her daughter was the beneficiary of her $500,000 life insurance policy.

Shirley’s death was initially ruled an accident, but her daughter is under investigation for two other murders, also of disabled people: Betsy Faria, her friend, whose death was disguised as a suicide and for which Shirley’s daughter is charged with murder; and Lewis Gumpenberger, her ex-boyfriend, in whose shooting death Shirley’s daughter pleaded no contest to murder.

Investigators tested the railing and found that someone of Shirley’s weight should not have been able to break the railing by falling into it. Shirley Neumann’s manner of death has been officially changed from “accidental” to “undetermined”.

Case status:
Pamela Hupp (Daughter); sentenced to life without parole for the murder of Lewis Gumpenberger; charged with the murder of Betsy Faria. The investigation into Shirley’s death was not re-opened.

Source:
‘It’s puzzling’: Pam Hupp waives preliminary hearing in murder trial
In ‘The Thing About Pam,’ We Learn Pam Hupp Is a Killer — Did She Also Murder Her Own Mother?
Shirley Neumann Murder: How Did Pam Hupp’s Mom Die? Who Killed Her?
The Real Truth about Pam Hupp: 3 deaths, 2 questionable investigations, 1 woman at the center
Pam Hupp
In her own words: Pam Hupp on her mother`s fatal fall
Woman, 77, dies after falling from third-floor balcony of Fenton-area retirement home
Shirley Neumann Obituary
Police seek new information on death of Pamela Hupp’s mother
Police reviewing death of Pamela Hupp’s mother
Police reviewing death of Pamela Hupp’s mother
Loved ones of man killed by Pamela Hupp speak out
Pam Hupp could still be collecting government disability checks in jail
Medical examiner changes manner of death for Pamela Hupp’s mother
Mom’s Death Not to Be Discussed at Pamela Hupp’s Trial