29 – Disability Day of Mourning

Kieu Lam

No Photo Name: Kieu Lam.
Died: October 31, 2022.
Age at death: 88.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Disability: Frail elder.

Details:
Ms. Lam, an immigrant from Vietnam, lived with her three adult children, who cared for her. Her children say that she was verbally abusive and controlling toward them, so they placed her in a nursing home, where she spent only three days before her son took her back home, believing that it was their duty to take care of their mother themselves. But her daughters say that her behavior only worsened.

Both daughters confessed to killing their mother by bludgeoning her with a hammer as she slept. Despite their confessions, the court concluded that Ms. Lam’s daughters were not guilty of murder because they had been abused and had killed their mother because they felt there was no other option, as their cultural traditions forbade them from putting their mother in a nursing home.

Case Status:
Chau Kanh Lam (Daughter), charged with murder, acquitted.
Hue Ai Lam (Daughter), charged with murder, acquitted.

Sources:
Lam trial hears ‘abusive’ mother spent three days in nursing home
‘I sacrificed my life to take care of her’ accused tells court
Defence calls on Vietnamese culture expert in Lam sisters’ murder trial
Lam sisters’ murder trial: Jury finds them not guilty

Andrea Bartlett

Name: Andrea Bartlett.
Died: February 9, 2018.
Age at death: 38.
Cause of death: Neglect.
Location: Grand Island, Nebraska, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, epilepsy, developmental disability.

Details:
Andrea was living with her parents when her day-care provider reported that she was malnourished and dehydrated. It was the latest of multiple reports made about Andrea. Adult protective services finally checked on her and took her to a hospital, but she she died nine days later.

She liked music, crinkling paper, and watching the fish in a fish tank.

Case status:
Kathy Bartlett (Mother); no charges filed.

Source:
Nebraska public guardian office points to 58-pound woman’s death in report showing flaws in system
Death of 58-pound disabled woman draws concern from state’s Office of Public Guardian
Andrea Bartlett, 38

Dylan Davis

Photo of Dylan Davis, a boy with short brown hair and fair skin, photographed outdoors. He is grinning at the camera. Name: Dylan Martin Davis.
Died: November 17, 2017.
Age at death: 11.
Cause of death: Positional asphyxia.
Location: Georgetown, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
When Dylan had a meltdown, his step-grandfather–a very large man–sat on him to restrain him and suffocated him to death.

Case status:
Donald Martin Jr. (Step-grandfather), pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, but was then allowed to withdraw his plea; found innocent because the court decided he had not known his actions would be fatal.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Dylan Davis
Police arrest and charge 400-pound man in death of 11-year-old autistic step-grandson
28-stone man ‘killed his ‘autistic’ step grandson, 11, by SITTING ON HIM’
400-pound man pleads guilty in step-grandson’s pinning death
Ohio boy crushed by 28-stone grandad
400-pound Ohio man pleads guilty to accidentally smothering step-grandson
400-pound man admits accidentally crushing step-grandson, 11, to death
400 lb grandpa pleads guilty to suffocating 11 year old autistic boy
Ohio granddad pleaded guilty in pinning death of grandson. Then a judge cleared his name
400-Pound Man Who Crushed Grandson To Death Found Not Guilty

Amber Perry

Name: Amber Perry.
Died: March 7, 2017.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Diabetic ketoacidosis.
Location: Crandon, Wisconsin, USA.
Disability: Juvenile diabetes.

Details:
Amber died of diabetic ketoacidosis. Medical examiners determined that treatment for her diabetes had been withheld for a long period of time, and that her death had been a homicide.

Case status:
Amber’s death has been ruled a homicide due to medical neglect, but no one has yet been charged.

Source:
6-year-old Crandon girl died of complications from diabetes
Report: Crandon girl, 6, died of complications from diabetes
Forest Co. Child’s Death Ruled Homicide
Forest County six-year-old’s death ruled a homicide
DA: Multiple people could be charged in kindergartner’s death

Brandon Strauss

Photo of Brandon Strauss. He is a teenage boy with fair skin. He is wearing a striped polo shirt and his hair is hidden under his bulky helmet. He is leaning on something off to the right of the picture. Name: Brandon Strauss.
Died: February 20, 2017.
Age at death: 21.
Cause of death: Polymicrobial gram negative sepsis, drug intoxication and medical neglect.
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Disability: Down syndrome, epilepsy, autism.

Details:
Brandon was badly burned in the shower over 12% of his body. His parents say that while his father was washing him, he had a seizure in the shower and accidentally turned on the hot water, causing second- and third-degree burns. Brandon’s parents covered the burns with ointment and bandages; but they did not seek medical attention.

As several days passed and the burns began to look worse, Brandon’s parents put off taking him to the emergency room–until one morning they found him dead. On autopsy, he was found to have dangerous levels of medication in his body.

Case status:
Yolanda Strauss (Adoptive mother), charged with murder and abuse of a vulnerable person, charges dropped.
Ross Strauss (Adoptive father), charged with murder and abuse of a vulnerable person, charges dropped.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Brandon Strauss
Murder charges against Las Vegas couple dismissed
Las Vegas couple charged with murdering their special needs son, 21
Couple charged with murder in death of their special needs son
Pair face murder charges in Vegas man’s Feb dying – Vegas Review-Journal
Las Vegas couple are charged with murdering their 21-year-old adopted special needs son who was found with lethal levels of medication in his system
Las Vegas couple face murder charge in death of special-needs son
Pair face murder charges in Las Vegas man’s February death
Las Vegas couple suspected in death of their special-needs son indicted

Lydia Whitford

Photo of Lydia Whitford. She is a young woman with fair skin and dark brown hair; she is wearing a turquoise jacket and pink baseball cap. Her mouth is open and her face relaxed in a neutral expression. Name: Lydia Whitford.
Died: July 14, 2016.
Age at death: 18.
Cause of death: Possible homicide; possible natural death after abuse.
Location: Stonewall, Manitoba, Canada.
Disability: Autism, epilepsy.

Details:
Lydia’s death was originally ruled natural, but her mother and sister saw bruises on her body and pushed for an investigation. More than a year later later, Lydia’s foster mother was charged with manslaughter. Exactly how Lydia died has not been released.

Her sister told reporters that “I want people to remember her as the kind and loving person she was.”

Case status:
Lisa Marie Campbell (Foster mother), charged with manslaughter, charges stayed.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Lydia Whitford
Vigil marks birthday of woman with autism who died in CFS care
Family wants answers in homicide of teen living in licensed foster home
Family of woman with autism found dead in foster home seeks answers
Family plans birthday vigil for Manitoba teen with autism killed in foster care
Family seeks answers after teen’s death in foster care deemed a homicide
Homicide victim’s family asks how woman with autism died in CFS care
Killing of teen with autism in foster care to be investigated by Manitoba’s children’s advocate
Foster mother charged in death of autistic woman, 18
Woman charged with manslaughter in death of disabled woman
Winnipeg woman charged in death of teen with autism
Foster mom charged in 2016 homicide of teen with autism, family says
Winnipeg woman arrested following homicide in July 2016: RCMP
Family of teen with autism looking for closure after Crown stays manslaughter charge against foster mother

Kathryn Ashe

Photo of Kathryn Ashe. She is a middle-aged African-American woman with dark brown skin and frizzy, graying black hair. She is wearing a bright orange T-shirt and looks like she was photographed while she was talking. Name: Kathryn Ashe.
Died: June 24, 2016.
Age at death: 66.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida, USA.
Disability: Physical disability.

Details:
Kathryn, frail and not able to take care of herself, was abandoned by her roommates, who had been acting as caregivers to some extent. They moved out of the house they all lived in, leaving her behind. The house had no air conditioning and was uninhabitably filthy. Though the former roommates stopped in to “check on” her, they never called for medical help even though Kathryn’s condition was visibly getting worse. They never helped her or even gave her food or water. Eight to ten days after she was abandoned, Kathryn was dead.

Case status:
Jennifer Susan Poulos and Debra Germain Poulos were both charged with neglect of an elderly or disabled adult. The charges were dropped because the two women were determined not to have been legally responsible for Kathryn’s care.

Source:
Pinellas woman starves to death among roaches, rotting garbage
Gulfport Woman’s Death Under Investigation
2 arrested for elderly neglect resulting in death
Gulfport police: 66-year-old woman left to die in squalor and heat
Death of 66-year-old Gulfport woman highlights risks of senior citizens who choose to live alone

Patricia Gordon

No Photo Name: Patricia Gordon.
Died: April 28, 2016.
Age at death: 63.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: Troon, Scotland, UK.
Disability: Health anxiety, depression, lung cancer.

Details:
Patricia hated doctors and didn’t want to go to see one, but was worried that she had lung cancer. One day when she was in pain, instead of taking her to a doctor, her husband smothered her to death with a pillow.

Although he admitted to killing her, the murder charge was dropped after a family member explained to the court how sick Patricia had been and how hard it had been for her husband to care for her.

Case status:
Ian Gordon (Husband), convicted of culpable homicide, sentenced to 3 years, 4 months; sentence overturned, released.

Source:
Pensioner cleared of murder after smothering his wife
Husband who smothered wife to death with pillow cleared of murder
Troon pillow killer Ian Gordon jailed for three years
Judges overturn sentence for man who killed his wife
Husband jailed for culpable homicide over ‘mercy killing’ of terminally wife admonished following appeal

Melissa Couture

Photo of Melissa Couture, a young woman with fair skin and brown hair. She is wearing glasses and a striped sweater. She is smiling broadly and looking down at some candles. Name: Melissa Couture.
Died: April 26, 2016.
Age at death: 38.
Cause of death: Choking, starvation, pressure sores.
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
For four years before her death, Melissa’s mother did not provide medical care for her, even though she was having trouble swallowing and rapidly losing weight. Melissa died from choking, starvation, dehydration, and severe pressure sores, weighing only fifty pounds.

Case status:
Patricia Couture (Mother), charged with criminal negligence resulting in death, ruled not criminally responsible.

Tamra Turpin

Photo of Tamra Turpin. She is a young woman with long brown hair and fair skin. She is wearing dark mascara and deep red lipstick. Name: Tamra Turpin.
Died: March 2, 2016.
Age at death: 36.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Disability: Unspecified; she “could not work because of a disability from a car accident in her teens”.

Details:
Tamra, a Missouri native, enjoyed traveling with her boyfriend; she was visiting Mexico when she died. At first her boyfriend said she had died of a seizure, then he claimed she had committed suicide. But medical examiners concluded that she had been strangled.

Case status:
John Loveless (Boyfriend), acquitted of criminal homicide. Civil lawsuit brought and settlement reached.

Source:
Settlement Reached In Civil Lawsuit — Mother Files Petition in Daughter’s Death
U.S. man held in girlfriend’s asphyxiation death at Mexico resort
Boyfriend arrested after Missouri woman found dead in Mexico
Did John Loveless lawyer kill disabled girlfriend Tamra Turpin?
John Loveless & Tamra Turpin: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
John Loveless arrested after disabled girlfriend Tamra Turpin is strangled to death