Memorial Wall : victims of child abuse

Liam Fee
died on March 22nd, 2014

2yo Liam from UK was murdered by his mom and mom's girlfriend, who initially blamed his death on another boy. Liam suffered more than 30 injuries, including a broken leg, a broken arm, and a fatal blow to his abdomen that ruptured his heart. Two other children in the household were abused as well: one boy was forced to sleep in a cage, and another - in a room with rats and snakes which he was told "ate little boys."

Det Insp Rory Hamilton, of Police Scotland, said: "During joint interviews with specially-trained detectives and officials from Fife Council, the evidence began to build towards a picture of horrendous abuse which directly contributed to the version of events being put forward by the two accused being utterly discredited. This was a complex, challenging and sensitive investigation which involved interviewing two young children to establish the level of abuse and neglect both they and Liam Fee had been subjected to. It was because of their courage that detectives were able to identify Rachel and Nyomi Fee as being responsible for a wide range of serious offences against three children."

Shamir Hudson
died on March 24th, 1998

8yo Shamir from Maryland, USA, lived with his 7yo brother, 6yo sister, and their 58yo adoptive mom. She was approved for adoption in 1995, after fostering them for about a year. Things turned bad when the children were transferred to Faith Deliverance Academy, an unaccredited private school. "These children were slowly tortured," said the kids' old kindergarten teacher. "Every time we tried to intervene, the Department of Social Services said our reports were unfounded."

Shamir was beaten to death. An autopsy determined that he died of wounds of every "size, age and direction," including a broken rib, a lacerated liver and hemorrhaging from his head. According to police reports, a burn on the child's arm and two open wounds on his legs were covered with duct tape.

"Obviously, we have looked again at all those referrals from the school and there just wasn't enough evidence to warrant a court order to remove them from the home," county social services director said. "We did receive multiple complaints about the children, but only two about the child who died." In Worcester County, with a population of about 35,000, four protective services case workers handle as many as 250 cases of suspected child abuse a year, officials said. "This has to be the saddest and most brutal case I have witnessed in my years on the bench," the judge said before imposing the 30-year sentence.

Camryn Jakeb Wilson
died on March 25th, 2008

4-month-old Camryn from Ohio, USA, died of shaken baby syndrome. His mom and dad, both recovering alcoholics, had an argument that involved a lot of yelling and throwing wedding rings at each other. In the end Camryn's mom left for an AA meeting, and dad stayed home with Camryn. When mom returned, she found Camryn unwell, rushed him to the hospital, but it was too late. Doctors discovered severe bleeding of his brain, extensive hemorrhages in both eyes, and Craig R. Wilson. Camryn's dad was sentenced to life in prison.

Isabella Nardoni
died on March 29th, 2008

Isabella was a 5yo girl from Brazil who was abused and killed by her dad and stepmom. Her biological mom got pregnant with Isabella at 17, but broke up with her dad while still pregnant. Isabella lived with mom, but visited dad on weekends. She complained of being beaten there, kept asking to not go, or to leave early, and the whole family was concerned that the stepmother might hurt the child. On March 29th Isabella was thrown out of a window of her dad's apartment (sixth floor) and died in an ambulance on her way to hospital. She had injuries unrelated to the fall, and her blood was found in the apartment and in her dad's car. Stepmother said it was all Isabella's fault.

Corinne Gump
died on March 30th, 2015

10yo Corinne and her grandparents from Ohio, USA, died in a housefire hours before she was going to testify against her mom's boyfriend, because she said he was molesting her for five years. He was out on bail at the time of fire. "We woke up and heard an explosion," said the grandparents' neighbor. "We looked out and saw flames in every room of the house. Not just the basement. Not just the living room. Everything was on fire. Windows were blown out, doors ripped off hinges. Even if they were awake, they couldn't have made it out." Days after the fire, the man tried to bribe his ex-wife, so that she would testify that Corinne made up the story of sexual abuse. She refused, and the trial proceeded. Here's what Corinne's relatives and neighbors said about her:

"She was a beautiful child with a soft heart and her mommy's smarts. She was daddy's princess, and she always slept with her daddy's gray tank tops. She had a quirky attitude and touched many people's lives in her 10 short years. She was a night owl and enjoyed playing games, riding four-wheelers and bikes, swimming and playing outside with her friends." "That little girl was the pride and joy of her grandparents. She listened to whatever they said. She and her grandparents got along so well. That family really will be missed."

Christian Choate
died on April 2nd, 2009

13yo Christian from Indiana, USA was physically and sexually abused as a young child in his mom's home, so he moved to live with his father, stepmother, and nine other kids, all in a single-wide trailer. When his was about 9yo, his father saw him acting sexually inappropriate with another relative. The father and stepmom explained to the kids that Christian was a "dog", purchased a dog cage from a neighbor, and chained the boy inside it. He was subjected to frequent beatings and starvation, had to wear a diaper, and was only allowed out of the cage to clean, eat, or use the bathroom. Sometimes he was chained to a bed frame where his dad punched, kicked, and beat him with a metal pole on the head. He was choked until he turned purple and forced to take cold baths. His hands and feet were often bound, leaving his arms and legs so damaged he could barely walk. When the kids' grandma would visit, Christian was kept in a locked room in their trailer home with a blanket over his cage so she wouldn't notice him.

Stepmother gave Christian pen and paper, as well as topics to write about, such as "Why do you want to play with your peter? Why do you still want to see your mom? Why can't you let the past go? What does it mean to be part of a family?" Department of Child Services released Christian's letters to the public; he wondered when, "someone, anyone, was going to check on him". He "wanted to be liked by his family". He was "isolated", "hungry" and "wanted to die".

The neighbor (who unknowingly sold the family the dog cage) was concerned about welfare of the children. She called Department of Child Services, and said she remembers watching a DCS staffer stop by the home in 2008. "She never even stepped foot in the house," the neighbor said."(Stepmother) came out of the house and stood there at the sidewalk and talked to the lady, and I just remember thinking, 'Go inside'."

On April 2nd, 2009, Christian refused to eat. His father responded by punching him multiple times in the head, then tossing him back in his cage. Christian died of blunt trauma, internal bleeding, and a skull fracture. "Nobody's gonna miss him anyhow," said his father. "We'll just bury him." They placed Christian's body in a 2ft deep grave across the street, with a Bible on his chest, and lime to speed up decay. Christian's older sister reported his death two years later, when the father left them.

"Did I fail him? Yes, I failed him," said Christian's father at sentencing, but then added, "I think I'm the only one who loved him."

McKinley Wilder
died on April 4th, 2012

2yo McKinley from California, USA, died of alcohol poisoning and malnutrition. Her mom and dad were going through a hard divorce. Mom felt dad was manipulative and enjoying the battles, dad felt mom was "a cold-blooded narcissist," and the kids (McKinley had an older sister) were caught in the middle of it. The mother was warned by CPS about her alcohol consumption and was required to stay sober while children were in her custody. Instead, she was binge-drinking and giving alcohol to them too. She was sentenced to ten years as per her plea agreement, to spare the surviving child the trauma of having to testify against her.

Lance Helms
died on April 6th, 1995

2yo Lance from California, USA, was born addicted to heroin. Lance stayed with his paternal grandma and aunt because his mom went to prison for robbery, and his dad was violent towards his girlfriend, his sister, his mother, and his grandmother. Despite that, court returned Lance to his dad, who beat him to death 7 months later. "He was the center of our lives," said his grandma. "Lance loved people, especially men. If (his father) had shown him any affection at all, Lance would have followed him around like a little puppy. He was such an incredibly good little boy that I cannot comprehend how anyone could possibly hurt him... (Lance's aunt) asked me after Lance's death, why would God bother making Lance so smart if He was only going to let him die. Well, God didn't cause Lance to die. He was murdered by his own father."

Emily Rose Perrin
died on April 10th, 2016

4yo Emily from Illinois, USA, "loved to be the princess," according to her cousin. "She was an awesome little girl." Emily's mom had a history of psychiatric illness and substance abuse, and was parenting five children without a support network. Child Protective Services received ten reports of suspected child abuse but dismissed them. "Although this family presented as chaotic, unpredictable and at high risk for harm to the children in the household, the approach to service intervention appeared passive," the Quality Assurance Report states. "Rather than act quickly to move to the next step of safety planning or requesting assistance from the state's attorney to obtain a court order or custody, the caseworker offered prompts for a consistent medication and therapy regimen for family members."

Emily suffered from cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that makes it hard to breathe. On April 10th, the day before Emily's 5th birthday, her mom, stark naked, laid on top of Emily and cupped her mouse and nose, suffocating her, because "the dark angel has come." "My little sister was an angel, a little princess," her older brother said. "She always smiled, even though in life she was handed lemons. She had a difficult life."

Angelina Rodriguez
died on April 11th, 2013

5-month-old Angelina from Chicago, USA, was smothered to death because she woke up and wouldn't stop crying while her mom and dad were drinking. Her mom gave her a bottle, which didn't help, so her dad put his hand over the baby's mouth. When he removed it, she started crying again, so he repeated the process three times, till her body went limp. The father put Angelina back into her playpen, and the couple went to sleep. At 7AM Angelina's mom woke up to get an older child ready for school, and went to back to sleep. At 11AM both parents woke up again and found the baby stiff and unresponsive. Angelina died in hospital four days later. Autopsy showed brain swelling, as well as skull fractures that are believed to be from a prior, unrelated incident.