Sentence Kelli Stapleton to the maximum sentence
Sentence Kelli Stapleton to the maximum sentence
The Issue
On September 3, 2013, Kelli Stapleton of Benzie County, Michigan, took her autistic teen daughter, Issy, and tried to kill her. She drugged her, then lit two gas grills inside a van to kill her with carbon monoxide poisoning. She then intended to kill herself. Both survived. Kelli was arrested for attempted murder, which has been reduced to a guilty plea bargain of first degree child abuse. Judge James Batzer of the 19th Judicial Circuit Court will be sentencing her.
This is not the first case of a parent trying to kill their disabled children. Too often, they also succeed. The climate as it stands right now tends to sympathize with the parent, i.e. the disabled person drove them to it by the act of existing and the parent got tired of "dealing" with the disabled person. There appears to be no crime too terrible that it will not be defended if done to an Autistic or disabled person.
Being disabled doesn't make it more okay to kill us. We’re human. A lack of services does not translate to abuse or murder for thousands of other families who have people in those families with disability, significant or otherwise. I will not deny the inadequate services across the country, but it is not an excuse. It is a hostage situation - give us the services, or we will abuse or kill them.
Therefore, I petition Judge James Batzer to sentence Kelli Stapleton to the maximum penalty for the felony crime she pled guilty to, which is life in prison, so she can never hurt Issy again, or at least a prison sentence long enough for Issy to be able to not have Kelli in her life if she chooses that. She should be sentenced as heavily as a parent of a non-disabled child.
We need to change the status quo and tell people that disabled people's lives matter. And it could be so many people I know, that could have happened to them as children.
More reading:
http://shesjustafool.wordpress.com/2014/09/04/sometimes-the-law-is-not-enough/
http://www.blogher.com/changing-conversations-when-parents-murder-disabled-children?page=0,0
The Issue
On September 3, 2013, Kelli Stapleton of Benzie County, Michigan, took her autistic teen daughter, Issy, and tried to kill her. She drugged her, then lit two gas grills inside a van to kill her with carbon monoxide poisoning. She then intended to kill herself. Both survived. Kelli was arrested for attempted murder, which has been reduced to a guilty plea bargain of first degree child abuse. Judge James Batzer of the 19th Judicial Circuit Court will be sentencing her.
This is not the first case of a parent trying to kill their disabled children. Too often, they also succeed. The climate as it stands right now tends to sympathize with the parent, i.e. the disabled person drove them to it by the act of existing and the parent got tired of "dealing" with the disabled person. There appears to be no crime too terrible that it will not be defended if done to an Autistic or disabled person.
Being disabled doesn't make it more okay to kill us. We’re human. A lack of services does not translate to abuse or murder for thousands of other families who have people in those families with disability, significant or otherwise. I will not deny the inadequate services across the country, but it is not an excuse. It is a hostage situation - give us the services, or we will abuse or kill them.
Therefore, I petition Judge James Batzer to sentence Kelli Stapleton to the maximum penalty for the felony crime she pled guilty to, which is life in prison, so she can never hurt Issy again, or at least a prison sentence long enough for Issy to be able to not have Kelli in her life if she chooses that. She should be sentenced as heavily as a parent of a non-disabled child.
We need to change the status quo and tell people that disabled people's lives matter. And it could be so many people I know, that could have happened to them as children.
More reading:
http://shesjustafool.wordpress.com/2014/09/04/sometimes-the-law-is-not-enough/
http://www.blogher.com/changing-conversations-when-parents-murder-disabled-children?page=0,0
Petition Closed
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The Decision Makers
Petition created on September 11, 2014