Cindy Sumner homicide

20 September 2009 – Toledo, OH, USA A memorial service was held for Cindy Sumner. Sumner who was described as having  muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, and mild intellectual disabilities was missing for six weeks before her decomposed body was found in an abandoned warehouse and police indicated that the missing persons investigation had become a homicide investigation.

Crimes against People with Autism

17 September 2009 – Planet Earth Here are some recent news stories about crimes against people with autism.

16 September 2009 – Fresno, CA, USA A ten-year-old boy with autism who was playing on the lawn of his home was stabbed repeatedly. The alleged attacker, Victoria Moreno, a women who lives in the neighborhood is in custody. The boy is in stable condition in hospital according to KSEE 24 News.

“Greedy” 8-year-old beaten to death

15 September 2009 – France Eric Sabatier, 37, and partner Virginie Darras, 30, reported that their eight-year-old daughter, Marina, who had Down syndrome was kidnapped from their car while her father went into McDonalds.  Weeks later, Sabatier told police that he found his daughter’s body six weeks ago and panicked. encasing her body in cement in a trunk in a storeroom where he worked.

Lack of Evidence-Hasanni Campbell Case

5 September 2009 – Freemont, CA, USA This is a follow-up to a previous post on the the arrest of Louis Ross and Jennifer Campbell in connection with the disappearance of their foster son Hasanni Campbell. Both foster parents have been released without charges because there was a lack of sufficient evidence against them. As I mentioned in my icad previous post, the only thing I can imagine that would make the loss of a child worse would be wrongfully being blamed for it. Sadly, there was a great flurry of news media activity around the arrests and much less attention paid to the release.

Murder Suicide-Father, Two Sons

23 August 2009 – Rosebud, Victoria, Australia A father is believed to have been responsible for his own death and the deaths of his two adult sons with cerebral palsy. Eddie Travaglia, 54, died of carbon monoxide poisoning along with his sons David, 30, and Leigh, 27, in a car which had been rigged to pipe in exhaust fumes. The father had brought the two adult sons home with him from a residental home where the two brothers lived.

Arrests in Hasanni Campbell Disappearance

27 August 2009 – Freemont, CA, USA Police have arrested Louis Ross, 38, Jennifer Campbell, 33, his fiancee in connection with the disappearance of their foster son, Hasanni Campbell, 5, who was reported missing on August 10, 2009.

Terry Neely Torture-Murder

28 August 2009 – Pheonix, AZ, USA Angela Simpson, 33, was today indicted for first-degree murder, kidnapping, and abandonment or concealment of a body in connection with the death of 46-year-old Terry Neely. Neely, who used a wheelchair and lived in an assisted living facility appears to have been tortured for several days before he was killed.

Robert Latimer’s Request Rejected

13 August 2009 – Abbotsford, BC, Canada

The National Parole Board rejected a request from Robert Latimer, who was convicted of murdering his 12-year-old daughter, Tracy, who had severe cerebral palsy in 1993, and is currently on day parole and living in a halfway house. Mr. Latimer, 56,  had requested that he be allowed to live on his own during the workweek and return to is halfway house only on weekends.

Filicide of Maxwell Owen Eyer

5 August 2009 – Edwardsville, IL, USA The [Alton, IL] Telegraph reports that Johmmy Garcia, 24, was sentenced to 44 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the beating death of his 2 year-old son, Maxwell who was deaf and showing emerging signs of developmental disabilities.

Minneosta mother charged with murder

3 August 2009 – Sandstone, MN, USA Ludusky Sue Hotchkiss, 29, was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in connection with the August 20, 2006 death of her ten-year-old daughter, Lakesha Victor. Lakesha had cerebral palsy, autism, and a convulsive disorder. She was fed by a feeding tube and pump since 2005. According to the Associated Press, it is alleged that Lakesha was starved to death and that her weight dropped from 50 punds to 31 pounds in four months prior to her death. 

Charges in Drowning

5 July 2009 – Las vegas, NV, USA Las Vegas Police have charged Raven Gibbons, 24, on charges of second degree murder of her five-year-old daughter D’Amber Myles who had cerebral palsy and who drowned in the bathtub on June 30, 2009. She is also charged with child neglect with substantial bodily harm. No bail has been set. Video report available from KVBC News 3.

Plea to a lesser charge

28 June 2009 – Great Falls, MT, USA Summer Many White Horses, who had been charged with murder in the death of her son, James “Hymie” Many White Horses, pleaded guilty to negligent homicide. Hymie Many White Horses was two years old and had been diagnosed with autism.

Unfit to stand trial

26 June 2009 – Adelaide, South Australia Seventy-six year-old Frank Harton has been ruled unfit to stand trial for the attempted murder of his 47-year-old son, Christopher Harton, who was described as “mentally disabled.” He was accused of shooting his son in the face at close range last February. According to the Independent Weekly:

Danieal Kelly Update

15 June 2009 Philadelphia, PA, USA A  former employee of MultiEthnic Behavioral Health has pead guilty to charges that arose in the wake of the 2006 starvation death of Danieal Kelly, a 14-year-old girl with cerebral palsy. Two additional former staff of the agnecy have agreed to plead guilty and it is expected that all three will testify for the prosecution against other coworkers. Andrea Kelly, Danieal’s mother plead guilty to third degree murder in April, 2009 and  has been sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison.

Sentence in Scalding Death

26 May 2009 Prince George, BC, Canada Earlier this week, Justice Bruce Preston handed down a three-year prison sentence to Raymond Brent Storie who was convicted of criminal negligence causing death of Wayne Walters,. Walters was 43 and had cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities when he was scalded in hot bath given Storie on September 11, 2005. After Walters was scalded, Storie did not seek medical assitance for him, but another worker who relieved Storie hours later sought medical attention.