Name: Shain D’Onofrio.
Died: February 24, 2018 (Body found).
Age at death: 24.
Cause of death: Long-term neglect.
Location: Plains Township, Pennsylvania, USA.
Details:
Shain had autism and cerebral palsy. He lived with his mother.
On February 24, 2018, the fire department was called to a burning shed in a mobile home park. They put out the fire, and when they looked through the ashes, they found Shain’s bones, initially thought to be those of a woman because he was so small-framed. The fire itself had been deliberately started.
The investigation into Shain’s death took five years. Finally, Shain’s mother was arrested on suspicion of having caused his death through neglect. Police allege that Shain’s mother starved him to death, kept his body in the shed for some time, and then tried to destroy the body by burning the shed when she was served an eviction notice.
Editor’s note: The United States has a double-jeopardy law that stipulates that a person cannot be tried more than once for the same crime. Because of this law, police sometimes take a long time to investigate a case despite having a good suspect, because if they cannot collect enough evidence for a conviction, their suspect can be acquitted and cannot be re-tried even if further evidence is later found that would have proved them guilty. When that happens, they may be able to secure a conviction for a related crime, but not for the same offense. This may be the reason for the five-year delay.
Sources:
Woman charged for death of disabled son
Woman charged in death of disabled son found in burning shed
Plains shed body was male; disabled man, mom, focus of questions
Autism Memorial 