Autistic Child Falls Victim To Murder-suicide

[Teleute]

MARSHALL COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — The Marshall County Sheriff’s Office has released information about an apparent murder-suicide involving a mother and her 8-year-old son. Deputies say Randle Barrow’s mother drowned him in the Tennessee River, and then committed suicide.

Marshall County deputies found Randle’s body around midnight Sunday morning. They had been looking for the boy, who they say had autism, since Saturday morning when Huntsville Police went to his home to check on him. They had gotten a call that he had been missing from school for two days.

Officers say they didn’t get a response from inside the home, and then noticed the home was on fire.

[...]

Firefighters put out the blaze and they say that’s when they found Randle’s mother, Delicia Barrow, inside. Her death was under investigation, however Sunday night, investigators said it appears Barrow had committed suicide.

Huntsville Police say they found a note inside the home, and contacted Marshall County deputies for further assistance. ”There was a note that evidently his mother had left that basically gave us some clues as to where he could be found,” Marshall County Sheriff Scott Walls says. Deputies say they searched the shore line north of Guntersville, and found Randle’s body in the Honeycomb area near Sunrise Marina.

Deputies say it appears Delicia Barrow drove her son to Marshall County and drowned him in the Tennessee River. They say they believe she returned to her Huntsville home, where she apparently committed suicide.

[...]

Delicia Barrow was arrested earlier this year on assault charges. She was accused of stabbing a nurse at Huntsville Hospital

[...]

For several weeks, Randle was in the temporary custody of Demetrius Bell and his wife. Randle’s mother, who is Bell’s good friend, voluntarily put her son in their care because of her health issues. “The whole idea was when she got better, we would just return him to her care,” Bell says.

Just recently Randle’s mother asked for him back.

[...]

READ MORE: http://whnt.com/2013/12/14/police-say-randle-barrow-mother-drowns-him-then-kills-herself

MARSHALL COUNTY, AL (WAFF) -
Madison County Coroner Craig Whisenant confirmed Monday the cause of death of eight-year-old Randle Barrow and his mother, 42-year-old Delicia Barrow.

Randle's death was ruled a homicide by drowning. Delicia's death was ruled suicide by smoke inhalation.

Deputies found Randle's body in the Tennessee River in the Honeycomb area of Marshall County, early Sunday morning. Huntsville police started searching for the autistic child after a fire at his home.

Police responded to 4900 Alburta Road in Huntsville to check on the welfare of the child after he didn't show up to school for two days. Upon arrival, officers noticed smoke coming from the roof of the house. Firefighters were able to put the fire out. Police found Delicia Barrow, inside the residence. She was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital.

[...]

"Randle made every kid in his classroom smile constantly. He was hilarious; the happiest kid. He would do anything for anybody. If he saw a child upset, he cried for that child. He understood," said Brooks.

[...]

READ MORE: http://www.wfsb.com/story/24224872/...ed-that-the-body-of-randle-barrow-8-was-found

He looked like a nice kid:

 

[mrcarolinablue823]

put my post in wrong thread. Derpy, derpy, DERP.

 

[Krystal]

I am officially gonna lose my shit.

The only salvageable thing in this story is the fact that the cunt is dead.

 

[QueenDee]

This is so sad. I have heard a couple of murder/suicide stories involving autistic children. There should be more help for the families, here we are supporting all the section 8 folks, yet we cant help people who really need it? I'd be happier if I knew my tax money was going to them instead!

 

[Teleute]

This is so sad. I have heard a couple of murder/suicide stories involving autistic children. There should be more help for the families, here we are supporting all the section 8 folks, yet we cant help people who really need it? I'd be happier if I knew my tax money was going to them instead!

It seems like he was getting the support he needed outside of the home, and the bitch only requested him back so they could die together. I'm curious as to how quickly she got him back after making the request. If only the process had taken a little longer, she might have offed herself while awaiting his return.

 

[Teleute]

This is so sad. I have heard a couple of murder/suicide stories involving autistic children. There should be more help for the families, here we are supporting all the section 8 folks, yet we cant help people who really need it? I'd be happier if I knew my tax money was going to them instead!

It seems like he was getting the support he needed outside of the home, and the bitch only requested him back so they could die together. I'm curious as to how quickly she got him back after making the request. If only the process had taken a little longer, she might have offed herself while awaiting his return.

 

[Teleute]

.

 

[QueenDee]

It seems like he was getting the support he needed outside of the home, and the bitch only requested him back so they could die together. I'm curious as to how quickly she got him back after making the request. If only the process had taken a little longer, she might have offed herself while awaiting his return.

I understand they were helping her. I meant as in councelors/therapy/medical bills/treatments/ schools for autistic children/ some more couceling I have heard that these bills are CRAZY expensive and that it is VERY overwhelming.

 

[Teleute]

I understand they were helping her. I meant as in councelors/therapy/medical bills/treatments/ schools for autistic children/ some more couceling I have heard that these bills are CRAZY expensive and that it is VERY overwhelming.

According to the school website, "The Riley Behavioral and Educational Center is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization currently offering services at or below cost to families struggling with autism in Huntsville, AL, and the surrounding areas."

Whether or not it becomes expensive all depends upon what kinds of assistance the individual child needs. Besides places like The Riley Center, a lot of services (both local and federal) are available through the public school systems, and children as young as 18 months can be put on IEPs, which cover all sorts of therapies. All of this is "free," once a child is found eligible. Private therapies may or may not be necessary -- again, it all depends upon the child's needs and the parents' preferences.

My son isn't autistic, but he attends a special ed preschool program (located in an elementary school) for his dyspraxia and ADHD. The autism classroom is separate, but I understand that the teachers are free to set up home visits to work with the child in his/her own environment. The IEP can prescribe everything from physical and occupational to behavioral therapies. Obviously, the quality of these programs varies from district to district, but they are in place, so it would be inaccurate to assume that help isn't available or that it will necessarily cost a lot of money.

It's astonishing how much education has changed in the past 15-20 years. My parents shelled out a fortune and never finished the basement to send my own ADD-dyspraxia ass to private school.

 

[Mata Hari]

Mental illness is a real fucking shame. I cannot look at this mother the same as others who kill their kids and then somehow fuck up their own suicide. She probably really believed he would be better off dead. So sad.

 

[Teleute]

Mental illness is a real fucking shame. I cannot look at this mother the same as others who kill their kids and then somehow fuck up their own suicide. She probably really believed he would be better off dead. So sad.

There are plenty of mentally ill people out there who do not kill their own kids -- nor anyone else's, for that matter. This woman will get no sympathy from me.

 

[Mata Hari]

There are plenty of mentally ill people out there who do not kill their own kids -- nor anyone else's, for that matter. This woman will get no sympathy from me.

Well, no shit. I'm not suggesting all the mentally ill people on earth are murderers. I do believe however that all people who murder/suicide are mentally ill.

 

[krissytan]

ah, the poor little boy.. so kind hearted and gentle.. it's a shame he wasnt given the chance to grow up and set a good example for others.

 

[trojo]

If she was overwhelmed, whether "because of her health issues" or because of the autism, she could have given him back to her friend Demetrius. Or just killed herself and not her son. What she did was an enormously narcissistic act-- she wanted to die, but could not imagine that her son would be able to continue without her. So she arrogantly took that choice out of his hands. What she presumably justified to herself as an act of mercy was in fact an act of supreme egotism. Mentally ill? I suppose so, but only because narcissism is technically a mental illness.

I once dated a woman who had an autistic son about 5yo. He had some difficulty speaking and got easily overwhelmed in a chaotic environment (e.g. he once hid under his mom's chair when we were all eating at McD's and a group of boisterous older kids came in the door), but he was the sweetest, gentlest kid. Not everyone who has autism is like that of course, but the description of Randle reminds me strongly of him. I'm afraid I cannot find any sympathy for Randle's mother. I'm glad she's dead-- we are better off as a society for it.

This story hits close to home in a geographic sense as well. I live in Huntsville and I go to Guntersville (maybe 45 minutes away) once or twice a year. It's always more disquieting to read stories that happen in my neck of the woods. I would rather cling to the delusion that folks 'round these parts eschew the senseless Hobbesian violence that seems to characterize life in certain far-off exotic places (aka Florida), but stories like this disabuse me of my comforting misapprehension.

 

[Teleute]

If she was overwhelmed, whether "because of her health issues" or because of the autism, she could have given him back to her friend Demetrius.

The timing seems to suggest that she asked for him back so she COULD kill him.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Randle Carlton Barrow