See following links:-
http://www.geocities.com/growingjoel/murder.html;
http://www.autistics.org/library/elves.html.
Articles taken from:- http://www.autistics.org/library/ at
The autistics.org website at:- http://www.autistics.org
Read below:-
ACTION ALERT
Are some lives unworthy of life?
He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or mourning
or crying or pain, for the old order of
things has passed away.
Revelation 21:4 (NIV)
ACTION ALERT
Are some lives unworthy of life?
Terri Schindler-Schiavo's life is being threatened by the Florida (USA)
court system and her husband. Attempts by her husband are being made to
remove her feeding tube ("straw"), with the intent of causing Terri to
starve to death. Terri is self-aware and will undoubtedly suffer as she
slowly dies from starvation. While she is not autistic (it appears that she
has some brain damage), this issue is very relevant to those in the autism
community - it asks, "Are some lives unworthy of life?"
Visit the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation's website to learn how you can
help.
Murder of Autistics
This is the most difficult page to write on my site. The reason it is
difficult is that these atrocities are still happening today - autistics are
being killed simply because they are autistic. I'm sorry, but these pages
will be hard for anyone who has respect for the lives of autistics to read.
There is simply no way to present this subject without causing pain -
especially in those who relate to the dead. But this subject must be
presented, and I must write about it, in the hope that even one murder could
be prevented by the words here.
This page may be very difficult to read, especially for those who who have
survived restraint or abuse. I'm sorry for any pain it causes to these
readers.
I will also warn the reader that I do not attempt to relate to, condone, or
otherwise understand the actions of the murderers. Their acts can not be
justified, nor will they be justified on this site.
In Loving Memory...
This page is dedicated to those autistics who were killed because they were
autistic, including:
Casey Albury (Age 17, died 1997)
Angelica Auriemma (Age 20, died 5 December 2003)
Dale Bartolome (Age 27, died 29 July 2002)
Charles-Antoine Blais (Age 6, died November 1996)
Jeffrey Bogrett (Age 9, died 1 December 1995)
Gabriel Britt (Age 6, died 3 March 2001)
Casey Collier (Age 17, died 21 December 1993)
Maggie Caraballo (Age 38, died 20 August 2003)
Terrance Cottrell Jr. (Age 8, died 22 August 2003)
James Cummings, Junior (Age 46, died 1999)
Jason Dawes (Age 10, died August 2003)
Brahim Dukes (Age 18, died 29 December 2001)
Matthew Goodman (Age 14, died 6 February 2002)
Jim Helm (died 1998)
Stephanie Jobin (Age 13, died 17 June 1998)
Justin Malphus (Age 5, died 19 April 2000)
Charles Mancill (Age 24, died 13 February 2002)
Mark Owens-Young-Rogan (Age 11, died 17 September 2001)
Pierre Pasquiou (Age 10, died 28 December 1998)
Michael Renner-Lewis (Age 15, died 25 August 2003)
Tanaka (Age 14, died 24 July 2002)
Matthew Vick (Age 23, died 25 May 2002)
Wayne Winter (Age 39, died 15 January 2001)
Willie Wright (Age 15, died 4 March 2000)
When these lives were taken from the world, some of the world's beauty and
wonder was taken with them. We have lost that beauty and wonder forever.
Sentences Received
In most cases, the courts have found the parents, doctors, or caregivers who
caused the death of these autistics guilty. However, it is only rarely for
murder, and sentences tend to be very light. (note that I do not have
sentencing information for all the murders on this page) For example:
Casey Albury's Mother - 5 months, manslaughter (Casey was strangled)
Dale Bartolome's Father - committed suicide (Dale was shot)
Charles-Antoine Blais's Mother - 23 month suspended sentence - 1 year in
halfway house, no jail time served (Charles was drowned)
Gabriel Britt - Father: 10 years, suspended to 4 years with 5 months
probation and credit for time served, Unlawful Conduct Toward a Child;
Mother: no penalty (Gabriel was beaten and then suffocated)
Casey Collier's facility - No significant sanctions of any sort - note that
another restraint death in this facility in 1999 (Casey died of suffocation
while being restrained face-down in a way which prevented him from
breathing)
Jason Dawes's Mother - trial is still in progress (Jason was suffocated)
Brahim Dukes's Stepmother - trial is still in progress (Brahim was starved)
Matthew Goodman's caregivers - Fines for abuse, neglect, and leaving Matthew
in restraints unattended; no criminal charges, however (Matthew Goodman died
as a result of receiving too much medication and being improperly
restrained)
Stephanie Jobin's caregivers - While an inquest was held, this was not a
court trial and did not result in any judgment against the home (Stephanie
died from suffocation after being restrained under a beanbag and the weight
of several caregivers)
Justin Malphus's Mother - Life + 60 years in prison, murder; social workers
faced 15 and 20 day suspensions due to improperly investigating Justin's
circumstances prior to his murder (Justin was drowned)
Pierre Pasquiou's Mother - 3 year suspended sentence (Pierre was drowned)
Mark Owens-Young-Rogan's Mother - committed suicide (Mark's mother jumped
off a bridge with him)
Tanaka's Father - 3 year suspended sentence, no time served (Takana was
strangled)
Matthew Vick's Group Home - Contract was canceled by the State of Texas; no
criminal charges (Matthew died as a result of improper restraint)
Willie Wright's caregivers - no consequences of any kind (Willie died due to
the way he was restrained in a mental hospital)
Out of the cases mentioned here, only one received a significant sentence.
Many did not serve any jail time, and others felt no consequences at all for
their actions. For comparison, I searched for murders of non-autistic
children, and picked the first 5 I saw that did not involve sexual assault
(note that some of the autistics murdered were not children, although most
were):
A Johannesburg South African man was jailed for 8 years for simply planning
the murder of his child
Megan Dail's murderer, a drunk driver, was sentenced to life+26 months for
causing an accident which killed 4 year-old Megan
Ashley Smithson's Mother's boyfriend was sentenced to life without parole
for beating 2 year-old Ashley to death
Nahaman Carmona Lopez, a 13 year old Guatemalan street kid, was murdered by
4 police officers who kicked him to death. The four officers were sentenced
to 12 years imprisonment and ordered to pay a total of 20,000 Quetzales to
the boy's mother Kennedy McFarlane's Mother's boyfriend was sentenced to
life in prison for beating 3 year-old Kennedy to death.
The obvious conclusion is awful. A man who planned on murdering his child or
who got into a car accident after drinking faces years in prison while
parents who planned and executed the murder of their children get off
without any jail time, simply because their children happened to be
autistic.
But what about the parents...
I've actually been criticized as insensitive and heartless for caring about
the autistics that are dying at the hands of people who are supposed to care
for them. The person saying this is usually trying to change my focus from
the child who is dead to the parent who didn't have enough support. While I
realize there is a legitimate need for support, and parents do not often
receive as much they need (especially respite care), the same excuse has
been used by parents who murdered neurotypical children.
For instance, a single parent will be raising three or four neurotypical
children. One day, he will snap and murder his children. He then spends the
rest of his life in jail, despite his pleas that trying to raise a family on
his own, while working 50 hours a week, cleaning a house, and making meals
is very difficult work and that he lacked the necessary support. He still
gets life in prison. Yet if he adds one word - "disabled" - when talking
about his child, he has immediate sympathy for his actions. A murderer of a
neurotypical child rarely has an acceptable justification for a jury -
regardless of the murderer's mental state. I ask for the same treatment for
murderers of autistics - just because the child isn't as presentable doesn't
mean the murder is any less awful.
Parents have criticized me for not understanding their struggle. I will
admit that I can't fully appreciate what it is like to raise an autistic
child, as I haven't done that. But I do believe parents deserve a lot of
credit and have a difficult job. A difficult job isn't justification for
murder, though.
Child molesters have used the argument that they have a chemical imbalance
in their brain which causes a deviant sex drive. They have claimed that
these are some of the strongest emotions a person can face. Yet few child
molesters have met public sympathy, despite there being some psychological
evidence that there may be some truth to their statements. The courts,
world-wide, have consistently stated that there are other outlets for those
impulses, other ways of expressing them, and ways of receiving help for
them. Courts do not generally believe a child molester when he says he had
no choice but to do the sexual act. Nor should they, scientific evidence
here is on the side of the court, even if there is some truth in what the
molesters say. The same goes for murder, especially premeditated murder,
where the killer planned well in advance. There are other outlets for
frustration over lack of support. There is always a way out other then
murder - perhaps family, perhaps friends, perhaps a church, perhaps the
state. In civilized countries, the state is obligated to ensure the safety
of children - so placing the child under state care is an option for those
living in civilized countries.
Mercy Killing
Another excuse often used to justify murder of autistics is that the
autistic will never have a high quality of life - he'll be confined to an
institution, he won't be able to communicate, and he won't even be able to
experience the emotions of joy, happiness, and love.
This is simply not true. Some people, autistic and neurotypical both, go
through life generally unhappy. But being autistic does not sentence you to
that life, no matter how "low functioning" you are. Even the lowest
functioning person can enjoy life, although it may look differently then
what someone else would enjoy, and it may even be a life that few others
would enjoy.
As for the confinement issue, it is possible for even very low functioning
adult autistics - without speech or toilet skills even - to live in the
community. But, even if someone is confined to an institution, this is not
sufficient reason to kill them. It is possible to enjoy life even in these
circumstances. Where the person loses quality of life due to the method of
confinement, the confinement should be modified to improve quality of life.
Murder doesn't address the true problems. While you could kill a person who
has a cold, and that would end their suffering due to their cold, a more
appropriate method is to provide them medical assistance, rest, plenty of
fluids, and compassion. We should aim to solve the problems facing
autistics, not eliminate the autistics themselves.
The excuse that "I am preventing suffering by killing the child" is a poor
one. No person can know what is ahead for a child. Even those who believe
there is a qualitative difference in quality of life between low functioning
and high functioning person (I don't believe this) must realize that this
line is less clear then they would like. For instance, I didn't speak until
I was nearly 5. I know other autistics who didn't speak until their teenage
years, and yet others that could speak years ago but do not today. Many of
them enjoy life, and none of them would wish someone else to decide to take
their lives to "spare them the miseries of the world". Murder is not done
out of love, but out of a desire to impose one's own opinions on another,
hatred, or selfishness.
Less Valuable Life
While it is rarely spoken of directly, society's view on the murder of
mentally disabled persons is that mentally disabled persons are less
valuable. Even the disabled community contributes to this, with statements
such as a blind man saying, "I'm a person - I still have my mind!" (implying
that not having a neurotypical mind makes a someone less of a person). But
it is worst outside the disabled community. When a drunk driver, who does
not plan his actions, is sent to jail for life after killing a innocent
child, surely a parent who plans a murder of her child should also get the
same sentence. The drunk driver may claim that his mind was impaired and his
judgment cloudy because of the alcohol, but the court will respond that
there was a way out - he simply should not have drove. Murder of autistic
children does not need to occur. Society isn't forcing mothers and fathers
to kill their own children, although it does tell those parents that their
actions, while a bit wrong, were justifiable (for the most egregious example
of this, Danielle Blais received a job with the Quebec Autism Society after
murdering her child).
Murder is wrong, because life is valuable. Neurotypical life is valuable.
Autistic life is valuable. In many places, though, there are stricter
penalties for cruelty to animals then cruelty to an autistic.
I know of no place where someone who caused great pain to a dog, in ways
that would be considered torture by most people, and eventually killing the
dog would not face criminal charges. Yet it is not unusual for a murderer of
an autistic to face no charges.
For instance, if I told you that I tied a dog on a table in such a way as to
immobilize him, in such a way as to prevent him from fully breathing, while
I listened to his sounds of terror and pain, and eventually watched him die,
I would expect you to consider me a horribly cruel person. In fact, I hope
you would - anyone who would do this to an animal is a cruel person.
Yet there have been autistics who have died in identical ways. It is a very
cruel death to die from suffocation while restrained. Many of those killed
even cried out that they couldn't breathe, but their complaints were
dismissed (with words like, "If you can talk, you can breathe," which isn't
true when using restraints).
And they died this horrible death at the hands of those who were supposed to
be caring for them. I am aware of several incidents where the autistic came
close to death or even died while being restrained, including some that I
mention on this page, but I am aware of none where charges - or even
disciplinary actions - were made against those that caused the death. This,
despite the normally higher accountability medical practitioners are held
to. It turns out that those society considers disabled or mentally ill not
worthy of the same respect as those who are considered "normal". In fact,
they are often not even worthy of the same amount of respect as a dog.
Horrible Deaths
Regarding the victims mentioned here, only two could have died instantly.
The others were strangled, drowned, starved, or bleed to death after being
stabbed. In each of these, there would have been horrible fear in each of
the victims as someone who was entrusted with their proper care, and, in
many cases, loved by the victim, caused horrendous pain. These methods of
murder do not show mercy - they are among some of the most gruesome methods
of inflicting death. In fact, with some of these murders, the murderer
failed with the first and, sometimes, even the second known attempt to kill
the child. Yet this is a not unusual - few murders of children don't cause
horrible pain and fear, so this should not be surprising.
Support for Parents
Parents do need support. Saying that murder is wrong does not contradict
that statement. In criminal cases, it is just and right to hope for a
sentence that is not weaker simply because of the social standing of the
victim.
Some parents believe that this weakens their position with regard to the
current level of services. This is not true. Rather then justifying evil
actions, we need good parents and caregivers to engage in political action.
Showing that autistic life is valuable and worthy of support is the pressing
need. We do not serve the cause when we support sentencing that weakens the
value of autistic life.
A Word on "One-Sidedness"
I have received several complaints about this site being one-sided in it's
presentation of facts on these murder cases. Please feel free to send me
information about murders of autistics where the victim's memory was
respected through proper sentencing. I have tried to include all cases where
the person would not have been killed if the he was neurotypical, regardless
of whether that case supports my statements or not. All these deaths need to
be remembered. I encourage and support anyone who feels the need to do their
own research to verify the facts. I ask only that, before my statements are
dismissed, that you do verify the facts. If you believe I am being one-sided
by being selective about the cases I present, I ask you to do that
research - for your own peace of mind. I also hope that you will send me
information on murders that were not included here, so that I can remember
the victim by adding him to this site.
Additions
If you are aware of a murder where the victim was killed because he/she was
autistic, I would like to include the victim's name on this page, as a
memorial. Please send mail to [log in to unmask], with the victim's
name, age at time of death (if available), and the date the victim died (if
available). Because of the serious nature of this page, I ask that you
provide any documentation you have that substantiates the claim of murder.
Links
(All links are to other websites)
Other web sites have also documented the devaluation of the lives of
autistics and others with disabilities. Note that some of these sites may be
very difficult to read for those who have been exposed to abuse in the past.
Children Injured by Restraints and Adversives
A parents' organization dedicated to preventing abuse of restraints;
Warning: Contains detailed descriptions of restraint use - may be difficult
for some autistics to read
Deadly Restraint
An special feature created by the Hartford Courant newspaper. Documents
several deaths due to restraint by "professionals". It also includes a
database of deaths caused by restraint.
Warning: Contains detailed descriptions of restraint use and mentions many
different institutions - may be difficult for some autistics to read
Misplaced Mercy
A paper on the attitudes of society and the US justice system regarding
murder of disabled persons
Not Dead Yet
A disability-rights organization which opposes euthanasia
Pass Matthew's Law
A site in memory of Matthew Goodman that is attempting to make a new law in
NJ to ban the abuses that Matthew was subjected to.
Warning: Contains information which may be difficult for some autistics to
read
The first persons killed in the holocaust were "mentally ill" persons (note
that there was not a separate diagnosis of autism at the time, so exact
numbers are unavailable) who, according to Hitler and his doctors, were
unfit for life. The reasons used during the holocaust are the same reasons
being used today to justify the murderers of autistics. These killings
preceded the other horrible atrocities in Germany, possibly because they
were more palatable to the population.
Life unworthy of life
A proclamation to remember these deaths
There are many reports on-line of the murders of autistics. A few of them
are listed below.
Katie Lynn Baker
Gabriel Britt
Maggie Caraballo
Stephanie Jobin
Justin Malphus
Willie Wright
Corrections
Every effort has been made to validate sources before including names or
events on this page. However, if you feel any of this information is in
error, I ask for you to send mail to [log in to unmask] Please include
any documentation available to you.
Thank You
I want to thank A M Baggs for the help with proofreading this site and
helping me research these cases.
I also want to thank the parents, who, after learning of their child's
autism and dealing with the stresses of raising someone who is different,
continued to show love and compassion for their children as they came to
terms with a child who wasn't what they expected, but who was wonderful and
precious. I thank my parents for allowing me to experience life, and didn't
take what would have been an easy way out.
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