Sister convicted in starvation death of woman with autism
February 3rd, 2008From the Toronto Star:
An Ontario woman was found guilty of manslaughter in the starvation death of her “severely autistic” sister, who weighed 84 1/2 pounds when she died in a filthy, locked basement.
Justice Joseph Fragomeni described the conditions that 23-year-old Tiffany Pinckney lived under as “appalling.”
He said it was clear that Alison Cox, 32, had to have known her adopted sister was living in a life-threatening situation, yet she never sought medical attention, which could have saved her life or help from various social agencies, who were willing to help her care for her severely developmentally-challenged sibling.
The prosecution alleged Cox deliberately starved her vulnerable and non-verbal younger sister to death over several months because she stood to gain financially from their late mother’s will if Pinckney died.


