Sunday, March 23, 2008

Disabled pregnant woman abused, died

Dorothy Dixon, a 29-year-old mentally disabled woman from Quincy, Missouri, was 6 months pregnant with her second child when she died after weeks of abuse administered by five adults and a 12-year-old child.

“Investigators put much of the blame on Michelle Riley, 35, who they said befriended Dixon but pocketed monthly Social Security checks she got because of her developmental delays.

Dixon saw little, if any, of the money, Hayes said. For months she weathered the torment to keep a roof over her head and that of her year-old son, who weighed just 15 pounds when taken into state custody after his mom's death.”

Dixon met one of her abusers (Riley) at a center that helps the developmentally disabled find housing and other such services, and ended up moving in with Riley. This is a deeply disturbing thought. If this woman went to a place where she should have been able to find good, honest help and ended up dead, it scares me. I hope that this is an isolated incident, but honestly, I don't know for sure. Her story is devestating.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is not cool and they should all get the death penalty, except for the 12 year old.

Anonymous said...

I hope there's a special place in Hell for people like that.

Josh said...

Don't worry Geoff, there is, and you, me, and Colt will all see it some day ; )