Amina Krouser, age 14 (pictured left), died of Lenierre’s Syndrome as a result of medical neglect by her mother, Aziyza Ababneh (pictured right). Amina and her siblings, ages 16 and 12, were homeschooled.
Ababneh, a US Army veteran, divorced the children’s father around 2007. She remarried but had divorced again by 2015. In 2017, Ababneh and the children lived in a filthy, feces-filled home without heat or running water. The children ate mostly baby food and used a bucket for a toilet. They rarely interacted with anyone outside the family, and Ababneh stated that “she doesn’t have health insurance and doesn’t take her daughter to the hospital so she was unaware as to whether she had any cognitive delays.” On November 26, Amina became sick with cold-like symptoms. As Amina’s symptoms worsened over the next four days, Ababneh—convinced Amina was being “lazy”—beat her with a belt, a paddle, and a “face blade” made of PVC pipe. Amina was taken to the hospital on December 3 where doctors diagnosed that the infection had spread to her brain. They told Ababneh that Amina needed emergency surgery in order to survive, but Ababneh refused, stating that she had “already lost her.” The surgery was performed anyway, but Amina did not recover and died December 10.
Ababneh was charged with child abuse and neglect causing death.
Date: December 10, 2017
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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