Karen McCarron was willing to and she did...
Before I continue on with this piece, I would warn those who are easily disturbed or do not want to see the dark side of parenting an autistic child to stop reading right now.
I believe in balance and believe strongly in pursuing and speaking the "truth against the world". Sometimes the truth hurts, but it needs to be seen.
Not many truths hurt more than the truth that there is a hatred felt by parents out there...a hate that can and has driven some to kill.
To see a list of autistic people killed at the hands of their caregivers of all sorts, please visit this website http://www.geocities.com/growingjoel/murder.html for their names and stories. The site has not been updated lately, but it is still a good resource.
According to this news article (Posted in full at the end of this post) http://www.pjstar.com/php/index.php?/news/pekin_mother_wants_videotaped_confession_suppressed/,
Karen was drivin to suffocate her autistic daughter, Katie, because Katie was "detached" (mentally disconnected). Katie was a "tough nut to crack" and Karen had thought about killing her on previous occasions.
Karen killed her daughter on May 13, 2006 by suffocating her with a plastic bag.
Her one main reason to kill an innocent child who did not ask to be born autistic?
Karen wanted "a life without autism". No thought was given to what her daughter thought about being autistic. Karen did not want autism in her life anymore and she got rid of it through the killing of her daughter.
Selfishness aside, there are other ways to dispose of a troublesome child, autistic or otherwise, that do not involve murder. Is troublesome a disturbing word? Sure it is...but it's the truth.
I appreciate that parenting a child with a disability - any disability - can be a trying experience. I've been on both sides of the fence: the disabled person and the caregiver.
For almost 7 years, I worked with people of all ages and levels of ability/disability when I worked as a home care and child care provider. I know that disabilities are a trying experience for all.
I am autistic myself and know that it was no picnic for my parents or me while was growing up.However, when a parent or caregiver starts thinking infanticide, it's time to look at other options...like removing the child from the care of that person.
If this woman wanted a "life without autism", then perhaps she should have considered giving Katie up for adoption or arranging with family to have someone else willing to take over Katie's care.
Was this thought of? Was this considered?
Who's to say? Friends and relatives reported that she was always crying and such.
I remember a woman I lived with who wanted to kill her child. For months this went on until I finally got fed up and said "Why don't you just call social services and give the child up?"
I got lambasted hardcore for that (called a childhater) and I was left asking the question:"Would people rather kill their children then give them up and just admit that they cannot look after them?"
What makes this story even more interesting is that Karen McCarron is a doctor (a pathologist)...oh yes, a MD who's just had her license stripped indefinitely. http://www.inclusiondaily.com/archives/07/01/09/010907ilmccarron.htm
A doctor who likely swore the Hippocratic Oath on the day she was given that MD. A doctor who swore that most ancient sacred vow to "First, do no harm".
A doctor who killed her own disabled child and said she was doing it to "end their pain".
A doctor who has pleaded "Not Guilty" to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of obstructing justice and one count of concealment of a homicidal death. "Not Guilty" to charges that could see her in jail for 100 years if she is convicted.
I would seriously like to know what her professional position on euthanasia is. Well, one could argue that, because she killed her daughter, she must be pro-euthanasia. That is not the case with many NT's, however. Perhaps she might be dead against (pardon the pun) euthanasia in the cases of ALS, painful diseases, terminal cancers, etc.
How can a crime like this be excused? Is it ok to kill autistic children because they're "hard nut[s] to crack"?
On the day after Katie McCarron died, May 14, 2006 (Mother's Day - how ironic is that?), a couple locked their 19 year old autistic son, Christopher DeGroot, in their apartment and set the place on fire. This did not kill him, however. He was airlifted to a hospital where he lingered for awhile in great pain due to the burns and then died 5 days later.
My in-laws lost their 16 year old son last year in a car accident. They are still devastated. Another mother I know lost her child to suicide many years ago and she will never truly heal from that wound.
The death of a child is devastating to say the least.
How could a parent kill a child of their own?
I will never know this, but it is an interesting question.
More articles as well as memorial pages for Katie can be found here: http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2006/05/why_the_autism_.html
Of course, I only heard about this today, so I've missed getting this on the Autism Hub.
Perhaps it is fate that I have found out about this and am bringing it up again? Perhaps there's a reason?
Regardless, no matter what day of the year, things like should not be forgotten, swept under the carpet or ignored.
The truth needs to be put out to the world. People need to know what the bad press autism gets does to people.
To all of the autistics and other people killed because of their difference: rest in peace.
PEKIN: Mother wants videotaped confession suppressed
By KAREN McDONALD of the Journal Star
PEKIN - The Morton mother accused of suffocating her 3-year-old autistic daughter had thoughts about killing the child before - she said she “wanted a life without autism,” according her videotaped hospital room confession.
“It seems that everything I tried to do didn’t help her. She was a tough nut to crack,” Karen McCarron said on the tape. “I didn’t know what to do . . . she was not learning at a rate I would expect . . .”
McCarron went on to tell Morton police Katherine “Katie” McCarron was “detached,” mentally disconnected and being vocal May 13, 2006, the day she allegedly killed her.
“It’s just really heartbreaking,” McCarron confessed of Katie’s disconnect.
“Autism left me hollow,” a soft-spoken McCarron said during the May 15 interview from her hospital room at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. She was being treated for an attempted overdose of extra-strength Tylenol and had a small scratch on her wrist from a kitchen knife.
The tape was played in Tazewell County Circuit Court Tuesday during a hearing to suppress evidence in the year-old case.
Karen McCarron is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of obstructing justice and one count of concealment of a homicidal death.
Karen McDonald can be reached at 346-5300 or kmcdonald@pjstar.com.
For more on this story, read Wednesday’s Journal Star.
