Markea Berry
16-year-old Markea Berry, who was mentally disabled, weighed only 40 pounds when she was found dead in her mother’s home. Relatives reported that Markea’s mother, Ebony Berry, was abusive toward her when the family had lived in Michigan. The family left Michigan for Georgia to avoid investigation by child protective services. Ebony homeschooled Markea along […]
Matthew Degner and 4 Siblings
After 14 year old Matthew Degner died, his mother dragged his dead body outside in hopes that officials would not look inside her home and see its squalid condition—or the 200 animals, riddled with disease, she kept there in cages. Matthew’s mother had isolated him and his four siblings, telling officials that they were being […]
Ramie and Timothy Grimmer
Rachelle Dianne Grimmer shot her two children, Ramie, aged 12, and Timothy, aged 10, in the head in a state welfare office to protest being denied food stamps. Grimmer had been on and off of government programs for years, and had for a time lived with her children in a tent on a beach. Grimmer’s […]
Valerie Smelser
At age 12, Valerie Smelser was beaten to death by her mother and her mother’s boyfriend. Her emaciated body was dumped in a ditch. Valerie’s mother claimed a religious exemption from public schooling and kept the girl home. She requested an application for homeschooling but never returned it. Child abuse tips were lodged against the […]
Ame Deal
10 year old Ame Deal died of suffocation after being locked in a footlocker overnight as punishment for stealing a popsicle. Ame’s grandparents, with whom she lived, frequently locked her in the footlocker as a punishment and sometimes threw it around with her inside. Some time before her death, Ame’s aunt had thrown her in […]
Jaquan Porter
Jaquan Porter was 10 years old when he died from fatal head injuries after being slammed against a wall. His mother, Melissa Sekulski, did not seek immediate medical treatment for the boy. Sekulski had removed her obese son from public school to protect him from bullying, but went on to beat him to death less than […]
Alex Pavlis
Irma and Dino Pavlis adopted two children from Russia, Alex, aged 6, and his biological sister, aged 5. Only six weeks after the adoption, the boy died in the hospital of injuries sustained from beatings he suffered at the hands of his adoptive mother. Irma said she beat Alex because the child was difficult and […]
Child of Stephen Douglas James
The sexual abuse suffered at the hands of her adoptive father, Stephen Douglas James, began when she was 11, the girl reported, but she did not initially tell anyone of the abuse because she was afraid that her father would hurt her or her brothers. She finally told her adoptive mother, who confronted James about […]
Child of Tammy Renea Andrews
Tammy Renea Andrews allegedly tortured her 10 year old adopted son, whom she homeschooled while sending her biological children to school. Andrews is charged with routinely tying the boy up or chaining him, denying him food, and beating him with a baseball bat and a hammer. She also allegedly pinched his tongue with a staple […]
Eric Cottam
14 year old Eric Cottam died of starvation in January 1989. Eric’s parents, Jay and Leona Cottam, claimed that the Seventh-Day Adventist family of four had been fasting since the previous November, saving their money to be tithed. Four years previously, the Cottams had withdrawn their children from school. School board officials were so concerned […]
