Columbia, Maryland: Deaths of Tracy Hawks and Christopher Melton, mother and son, ruled murder-suicide

Howard County police complete two-month investigation
By Kellie Woodhouse
kwoodhouse@patuxent.com
Posted 8/09/10

After a two-month investigation, Howard County police have classified as a murder-suicide the death of a Columbia woman and her 18-year-old disabled son.

Police say that Tracy Hawks, 47, used a gas generator June 4 to take her life and that of her son, Christopher Melton, who had autism and mild mental retardation.

New details of the June incident reveal that Hawks suffered from depression.

On the evening of June 4, Hawks’ mother and father called Hawks repeatedly, according to a police report. When she failed to answer, the two went to her Hickory Ridge home to check on Hawks, who had been threatening suicide for more than a month, the father told police. The father used a key to enter the residence, noticed a generator in the dining room and found Hawks and Melton in Hawks’ bedroom, lifeless, a police report states.

He called police, who arrived minutes later. They determined that the “newly purchased” generator was depleted of gas and located a red gas can that was nearly empty, according to the police report. The report states that the two died from suffocation.

Melton, a junior at Atholton High School, participated in the school’s Academic Life Skills special education program. According to the report, his teacher told police that it would not “have occurred to Christopher that his mother would hurt him.”

According to the report, police determined that Melton “was a special needs adult who would not have the capacity for deducing that his mother’s actions would render such life-threatening consequences,” and as such was killed by his mother.

Court documents and the police report show that Hawks was in financial debt, at risk of losing her job as a pharmaceutical rep, in the midst of a divorce and facing criminal charges for misusing her husband’s credit card.

Hawks’ father and sister, who were not named in the report, told police that she struggled with periods of depression throughout her life.

The father said Hawks had been diagnosed with depression two months before her death. According to the police report, Hawks’ sister said, “Tracy had told her best friend... that she was going to commit suicide and take her son with her.”

Because of her threats, Hawks’ family was watchful of her, they told police. Hawks’ sister said they tried not to leave her alone for an extended period of time, the report states.

The sister told police that Hawks had exhibited several warning signs. She told police “she watched Tracy cry every day for two months,” that she received ominous text messages from Hawks, and that Hawks had begun giving her possessions away.

In the report, police said Hawks’ home was “in complete disarray” and was cluttered with paper documents, plastic containers and plastic bags. The report also noted that the residence was sparsely furnished.

According to the sister, Hawks had once been a vigilant homeowner. She told police that “Tracy used to keep her house very neat and orderly, buy expensive stuff and cook (but) she had stopped doing all of these things,” the report states.

On April 26, 2010, the family tried to force Hawks to seek help at Howard County General Hospital, but Hawks would not admit herself into the hospital’s mental health ward voluntarily per the hospital’s guidelines, the report states.

Shortly afterward, Hawks stopped taking her prescription medication, her sister told police.

Hawks’ struggles were first documented in the fall of 2009, when Hawks and her husband, Leslie Hawks, filed protective orders in Howard County District Court.

On August 2009, Tracy Hawks alleged that her husband became “extremely volatile and abusive” when he drank. Hawks said she had bruises on her arms “due to defending myself from his attacks,” court documents state.

She also alleged that her husband had threatened her with an unregistered gun.

The accusations were never proven and the request for a protective order was denied.

In another request filed in October 2009, Hawks said her husband had choked her in 2006 when angered by a high credit card bill, and that he was verbally abusive.

Leslie Hawks also requested a protective order in October, alleging that Tracy Hawks pushed him face-first into a wall.

Both orders were denied.

In a divorce filing, Leslie Hawks alleged that his wife had “harassed and humiliated him” in the presence of his son. In a separate criminal filing, he charged Tracy Hawks with stealing his credit card and accruing $18,000 of charges without his permission.

On May 25, 11 days before her suicide, the two attended a settlement conference for the divorce. According to David Titman, Leslie Hawks’ divorce lawyer, the conference went smoothly.

“There were no raised voices, there was no contentious discussions, it was all very routine,” he said. “Her suicide was a shock to both my client and myself.”

But that same day Hawks wrote an entry in her diary, which was included in the police report:

“I don’t feel that I am deserving of... love. I wish I was different or better. I am so lost,” she wrote. “I feel that my life is over. I have failed at everything. I cannot preserve anything.”

Family members, neighbors, and Melton’s special education teacher all told police Hawks and her son had a close relationship. Melton’s teacher said Hawks regarded her son as her “comforter,” the report states.

Hawks moved to Hickory Ridge in the fall of 2009 so her son could attend Atholton’s Academic Life Skills special education program, which was more tailored to his needs, the teacher told police. Before, Melton attended Mt. Hebron High School, in Ellicott City, for three years.

The teacher, who was not named in the report, told police that Melton’s attendance was “sporadic.” In the week before he died, Melton had not been in class at all, the police report states.

The teacher told police she had worked with Melton for eight years, and in that time she thought Hawks was over-protective of her son and “would not let people in her son’s life.”

The teacher told police Melton was a loving person and a good student.

“Chris was a great kid,” Mt. Hebron principal Scott Ruehl said in an interview. “He was very caring and welcoming.”

Melton’s teacher agreed.

He was the “most delightful, well-behaved child you ever knew,” the teacher told police, according to the report. “Every time someone looked at Christopher, he would smile.”

Superior, Colorado: Coroner says baby, Rylan Rochester, died of suffocation

Rylan Rochester, age 6 months

A 6-month-old Superior boy who was allegedly killed by his mother, a mental-health counselor, died of suffocation, Boulder County Coroner Thomas Faure said Wednesday.

Faure said Rylan Rochester, who was pronounced dead at Avista Adventist Hospital on June 1, was the victim of a homicide.

Rylan's mother, Stephanie Rochester, a mental-health counselor at Children's Hospital at the time, is charged with first- degree murder and child abuse. Rochester told police that she thought Rylan had autism and that she felt responsible.

She said she felt she and her husband couldn't have fun while caring for a severely autistic child, according to the affidavit. Rochester also said she didn't want Rylan to suffer and put a plastic shopping bag and a blanket over the baby's face to kill him, according to police.

Her husband, Lloyd Rochester IV, has not been charged.

Bronx, New York: , Micaela Jackson and autistic son, Kenneth Holmes, found dead in suspected murder-suicide

Kenneth Holmes, age 12

BY Kevin Deutsch and John Lauinger
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Thursday, July 29th 2010, 4:00 AM

Frustrated over the demands of raising an autistic child, police believe, a Bronx mother shot the boy to death before turning the gun on herself Wednesday night, cops said.

Micaela Jackson, 37, and Kenneth Holmes, 12, both killed by a gunshot to the head, were found in bed in the single mother's apartment on Loring Place in Morris Heights, police said.

The suspected murder-suicide - the second in as many weeks in the city - left Jackson's family and Kenneth's father shattered.

"I don't see the reason for any of this," said Kenneth Holmes Sr. "We were just getting ready to go to Jamaica, and now this."

Holmes, who was not married to Jackson but remained close with her, said he was in disbelief because Jackson had just been promoted at her job at Montefiore Medical Center.

"She was at a good point in her life," he said, tears streaming down his face as he glanced at a picture of his doe-eyed, curly-haired namesake.

Cops were called to the tragic scene shortly before 7:30 p.m. after Jackson's sister, worried because she could not reach her, went to the apartment, police said.

The door was locked and fastened with a chain from the inside, a fact that strengthened investigators' belief that the deaths were a murder-suicide, police said.

The sister got the building's super to gain entry, leading to the awful discovery. A 9-mm. pistol was recovered close to the bodies of mother and son, police said.

Jackson's heartbroken family gathered outside the apartment building last night, some crying, others shaking with grief.

"She's a good woman. She's a good mother," said Jackson's cousin, refusing to provide a name. "We're looking for answers. It's just a tragedy."

Neighbors said they would often see Jackson early in the morning, putting her son on the bus before leaving for work.

Neighbor Esmerelda Diaz, 22, said she recently saw Jackson chase after her son as he darted across the street.

"She really looked stressed out. She was so tired of screaming at him," she said. "Maybe he pushed her to the extreme and it came to this?"

Holmes could not accept that possibility last night, calling his boy "a gift."

"He was autistic, but he had charm," the devastated father said. "He had a great smile. Even if you had an evil heart, you would still love him."

Last Thursday, the bodies of a young mother and her four children were found amid the ruins of their burned Staten Island home.

Detectives have not made a final determination in the case, but believe Leisa Jones cut the throats of three of her children before setting the blaze that killed her and her youngest child.

jlauinger@nydailynews.com

Irving, Texas: Mother, Saiqa Akhter, calls 911 after strangling her children, Zain and Faryaal

After her two children were strangled to death, a Texas mother called police... on herself.

Saiqa Akhter, 30, was arrested on Monday night and is expected to be charged with capital murder for the death of her son Zain, 5, who died on Monday, according to the Dallas Morning News. Her daughter, Faryaal, died Tuesday evening.

The woman's uncle, Wasimul Haque, said Akhter had been depressed, the Associated Press reported.

"It looks like she had mental problems. I don't understand why she did it," said Haque.

Akhter called police around 5 p.m. on Monday from her Irving home, about 15 miles from Dallas. She told the operator she used a wire to strangle her children until they turned blue.

The uncle said Zain had autism and a severe speech impediment but was improving. He added that the kids' father, Rashid Akhter, was "totally broken."

Police said the woman was the only one at home at the time of the murder.

It isn't the couple's first brush with law enforcement. In May 2009, the parents were contacted by Child Protective Services after they left their son home alone to take their daughter, who was having respiratory problems, to the hospital.

"They admitted to it and they said they understand why it was dangerous to leave a child that young at home by themselves," said Marissa Gonzales, a CPS spokeswoman.

"They said they had been really concerned about their daughter and so they just hadn't been thinking but they were adamant that it wouldn't happen again."

Gray, Maine: Autistic Gray man, Benjamin McLatchie, 22, killed by his father Daniel McLatchie

Police say the man, who also shot himself, may have been worried about his son's care in the future.
By Dennis Hoey dhoey@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

GRAY - A father shot and killed his autistic son Tuesday at their home on Yarmouth Road before turning the rifle on himself, Maine State Police said.

Cumberland County sheriff's deputies found the bodies of Daniel McLatchie, 44, and his son, Benjamin McLatchie, 22, in the family's driveway at 227 Yarmouth Road around 2:30 p.m.

The driveway, which is several hundred feet long, slopes down from Yarmouth Road -- part of Route 115 -- before ending at a white, two-story, Cape-style home surrounded by woods.

State police Sgt. Chris Harriman said the sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call. He did not say who made the call.

He said it appeared that Daniel McLatchie was upset about what would happen to his autistic son after he and his wife died. He was a stay-at-home father, Harriman said.

Daniel McLatchie's wife, Allison McLatchie, 45, was at work when the shootings happened.

Harriman said she is a teacher at the Collaborative School on the Pineland Campus in New Gloucester. According to its website, the school serves students from ages 5 to 19 who are eligible for special education services because of emotional or related disabilities.

Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Marguerite Dewitt examined the bodies in Gray. She determined that McLatchie and his son died from gunshot wounds. A rifle was found near the bodies.

The bodies were taken to Augusta, where the state Medical Examiner's Office is expected to do autopsies today.

Harriman would not characterize the shootings as a murder-suicide, but said during a press conference, "We do believe there were no other people involved."

Mary Keith has lived nearby on Yarmouth Road for 10 years, but said she never got to know the McLatchies. She said the family moved into the neighborhood about six years ago.

Ginger Taylor of Brunswick, who writes the blog "Adventures in Autism" and whose 8-year-old son has been diagnosed with autism, said she doesn't know the McLatchies, but noted there are pressures for families with autistic children.

"Having an autistic child is, on a social level, very hard because it can be very isolating. You don't get to be part of those social circles anymore and you can't participate in the life of the town. There are just so many challenges," said Taylor, who has organized Greater Brunswick Special Families, a support group for parents of autistic children.

She said there is "a huge tidal wave of autistic children born in the 1980s and 1990s who are coming of age." Parents who care for autistic children at home need greater support, such as respite care and counseling, she said.

Taylor said one of the most common fears for parents with autistic children is what will happen to the children after the parents are gone.

"That is the big question -- what happens to our child when we die," she said. "We understand their needs better than anyone else. It really breaks my heart hearing what happened to this family. It shouldn't be like that."



Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at: dhoey@pressherald.com

Edmonton, Ontario: Killer dad 'couldn't cope'

Family experienced severe behavioural problems with autistic son
By RICHARD LIEBRECHT, SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: September 30, 2009 3:16am

It was a "loving, caring" father who killed his 11-year-old autistic son before killing himself, according to family.

That message was passed through a social worker who tried helping the family cope with struggles that bring many parents to the edge.

"I wasn't surprised. It was a feeling of dread, like oh my god, it happened," said Karen Phillips, program director for the Autism Society of Edmonton Area, who worked directly with the suffering family.

"(The mother) said (the father) just couldn't handle it anymore. He couldn't cope. He was worried his son wasn't going to get what he needed.

"Something had to give here."

She broke down, saying, "the bottom line here is that I do worry. There are other families that I worry about. There's intense stress over the long term. It puts people at very high risk, so no, I wasn't very surprised."

The 39-year-old father locked himself in the basement of the family's home at 8403 138 Ave. and, somehow, committed the acts.

The causes of their deaths have not been released, at the request of the surviving mother to protect her remaining young son, said Patrycia Thenu, police spokesman.

However, cops are dubbing it a homicide-suicide.

The bodies were found by family just before 1 p.m. Sunday.

The 11-year-old threw thrashing fits and slept poorly, said Phillips.

In the spring of 2008, he had such a tantrum that his family took him to Royal Alexandra hospital.

"The family gets to the point of becoming unglued. They don't know what to do," said Phillips.

Royal Alex staff originally said it was the wrong place to take him, she said.

She notes that there are no emergency services for autistic people when parents lose control. Also, parents never really know if their child is freaking out because something is medically wrong with them.

The 11-year-old spent 20 hours strapped to a hospital bed, screaming, said Phillips.

It was the breaking point. After 10 years of home care, the family sought to have their son sent out for care.

"They were wondering what they were going to do now with his severe behavioural problems," said Phillips.

It took some time to find a placement.

Meanwhile, the family was stressed. The stress didn't break, even as a group home took the 11-year-old on weekdays.

"Mom has said it's kind of been an accumulation of stress that's built up over time," said Phillips.

Phillips urged that the government and community must step forward to offer parents of autistic children more support, especially for emergency relief.

RICHARD.LIEBRECHT@SUNMEDIA.CA

Mississauga, Ontario: Autistic-murder case: Mother upset by husband's plans to institutionalize their son, Tony Khor

Tony Khor, age 15

By Catherine McDonald, Global News, and Matthew Coutts, National Post

The Mississauga mother charged with murdering her autistic teenager was distraught in the days before the death because her husband was considering moving him to a care home, neighbours said yesterday.

Peter Varanelli, a long time friend and neighbour of the family, said Boon Khor wanted to move his son to a specialized care facility, but the mother could not bear the idea.

“Her son was her life. Period,” Mr. Varanelli said. “Maybe she should have just accepted that he needed to go to an institution. But she just couldn’t see it that way.”

Tony Khor, 15 (pictured at top), was found dead in a Mississauga hotel on Sunday. He was a low-functioning autistic unable to speak, often making noises in an attempt to communicate. He was found dead after a call from a room alerted police to his whereabouts.

Sources told Global News the boy had been strangled.

His mother, Seow Cheng Sin, 51, appeared in a Brampton court yesterday to face charged of first-degree murder. She is reportedly on suicide watch.

Police said Ms. Sin left the family home with Tony after an argument with Mr. Khor on Saturday.

Mr. Khor, pictured, broke down in tears after leaving his wife’s court appearance yesterday. He told reporters he and his wife had argued before she left and she threatened to divorce him.

“I said ‘I would never bring up a divorce, why would you bring it up? If you want a divorce, go ahead,’” said Mr. Khor, 51. ‘‘I never saw the signs coming .... She said if you divorce me I will kill myself. I should have known.”

Mr. Khor said the couple would often argue, but Ms. Sin would always return home after a cooling-off period. He said she was depressed, but ‘‘dedicated’’ to their son and should not have been charged with first-degree murder.

Neighbours in the family’s close-knit Mississauga neighbourhood described them as caring, seemingly able to manage the stresses of raising an autistic child.

The boy’s autism was so bad he could not speak, often spooking people who were not familiar with his condition, Mr. Varanelli said.

He said the boy relied on routine and would grow agitated around visitors no matter how often they came to visit.

The boy, Mr. Varanelli said, was getting big. He estimated the teenager was nearly six feet tall, and still growing. He already towered over his diminutive mother, leading the family to question how much longer she could care for him.

“He was getting big ... in a few years they were going to have to think about it.

A silver haired woman who lived up the street from the family had spoken to Ms. Sin on Friday about the possibility of moving her son to a home.

“From her point of view — never,” the woman said, declining to give her name. “But the husband thought they would have to at some point. He was worried that she might not be able to handle it for much longer.”

The woman said she had offered to help the woman in any way she could. She said they had moved Tony to a new school in September for more hands-on assistance. He was agitated by the move at first, but she said Ms. Sin felt he was settling in.

Students at St. Marcellinus School said they were told a classmate died in an accident over the weekend. The school’s flag was at half-staff.

Sunil Kapoor and his wife, whose yard is adjacent to the couple’s, were shocked to hear the news, describing them as an open, loving family.

The couple and their 15-year-old son were staples in the community, and often took long walks through the neighbourhood.

Mr. Khor works in the IT sector during the day, leaving much of the child-rearing to his wife, Seow Cheng Sin.

Mr. Kapoor said Ms. Sin lived for her son, picking him up from the bus stop and playing badminton with him on the family’s lawn, weather permitting.

“They would play badminton on the grass and go for walks. Usually the two of them, but sometimes the father too,” he said.

“And she loved him so much. Sure, he had issues, but she would take care of him. He never hurt anyone. He just had episodes.”

The family had lived in their Clansman Trail home for more than 20 years, neighbours said.

Tears welled in the eyes of a Chinese couple living in the neighbourhood as they heard the news yesterday.

Another young man walking his dog past said he had gone to elementary school with Tony. He was too stunned over his death to speak.

“He was a good kid,” he said.

Ms. Sin returns to court on Friday.

Waukegan, Illinois: Brian Kent's unsolved death in an insitution leads to Brian's Law

Brian Kent, age 25

August 8, 2010
BY MAURA POSSLEY

Brian's parents were still in shock when they arrived at a Waukegan hospital on a fall night in 2002.They hadn't spoken much during the hour-and-a-half ride from their Oak Forest townhome.

They could think only of the news they had so far: Their 25-year-old son had arrived at the hospital with no pulse. Doctors couldn't revive him.

Jim and Linda Kent saw the white sheet pulled up to Brian's chin, covering the rest of his 100-pound frame.

He was gone, and something went terribly wrong.

The deputy coroner agreed. He looked Jim Kent in the eye that night.

"He says, 'He's 25 years old, young - I'd sure like to know how he died,' " Kent recalled. "I said, 'We do, too.' "

Eight years later, the Kents still aren't sure what happened to Brian.

They do know he never got the services he should have, as someone with profound disabilities in the state's care.

Though Brian's life had ended, his story would continue with his parents discovering a new way for their son to live on.

Through this one couple's determination to speak out, Brian's life became the inspiration of a new state law that will examine these deaths in a new light, in a bid to prevent another of these vulnerable residents from dying prematurely. The law takes effect Jan. 1.

"He was kicked in the abdomen. Nobody was held accountable, and that's just what floors me," Jim Kent said, reflecting on the nightmare his family was only beginning to face on that October night.

"His heart was excellent," his mother said. "He would have lived forever."

The baby brother

Brian Kent was born March 8, 1977, in Rock Island, a third child for the Kents. Sister Laura was the eldest, followed by brother Randy.

He had inherited his dad's traits - at least in his shock of red hair.

Quickly, the family knew there was something different about Brian.

And by age 10, Brian's autism and other disabilities needed more care than they could provide.

He had compulsive tendencies, whether it was arranging furniture in a certain way or knocking on windows or flipping through magazines. Knocking on a window one day, it broke on Brian and his mother found him standing in a bed room holding a piece of glass.

Brian was nonverbal and had vision problems, but he communicated with others physically - by gently taking their hand to a faucet if he wanted water, for instance.

He spent his youth in two facilities downstate before he was transferred in 2002 to the Kiley Developmental Center in Waukegan. Run by the state, it seemed the appropriate next step needed to monitor his medications and handle his care into adulthood, his parents said.

"They had everything right there," Linda Kent said. "It was so impressive."

Cottages shared by residents were laid out in an oval, with a walking path connecting them. The Kents thought Brian would love it there. He constantly was active, and it offered a place to safely be so.

Thirteen weeks later, Brian was dead. He died from peritonitis due to blunt force trauma to his abdomen, which caused a distended intestine. A coroner's inquest later ruled his cause of death undetermined.

Searching for answers

In the year after Brian's death, the Illinois State Police and state inspector general's office investigated Brian's death.

No charges ever were filed and no one person could be pinpointed for the injury to his abdomen.

The Illinois Department of Public Health also investigated and admonished Kiley staff for failing to properly care for Brian and ensure his safety. The department also required Kiley to take corrective action, which the center did.

The family was left feeling Brian became lost when he moved into Kiley, an expansive facility compared to his previous homes.

They felt no one was ever held accountable for a lack of care they believed led to his demise, and the set out to change that.

A year after their son's death, the Kents read about the Chicago-based Equip for Equality, a federal watchdog group that advocates for people with disabilities. They told Brian's story, and the poor care they felt he'd received.

So began their quest together to bring about more oversight in light of his death.

Last moments

In its own report on Brian's time at the Kiley Center after state investigations concluded, Equip for Equality found that not one incident led to his death but many factors, including "the lack of recognition of Brian's value as a human being to direct care staff."

Equip for Equality has pushed for residents of state-run centers for the developmentally disabled be moved to smaller, community-based settings.

The group chronicled Brian's last day at Kiley and found he was unusually lethargic, was doubled over when he walked and vomited. It found staff assessments of his health were delayed.

When staff found he wasn't breathing and didn't have a pulse at 6 p.m., they failed to give CPR. Instead, they called his name, rubbed his legs and arms and propped him up in a chair, according to the report.

The group also found in his 13 weeks there, Brian, who had a staff member monitoring him 24 hours a day, had suffered 57 injuries, 18 of which were unexplained.

Finding closure

The Kents' quest became reality last month, when Gov. Pat Quinn signed what has become known as Brian's Law. It aims to prevent another early death of anyone receiving developmental or mental illness services statewide by creating a independent oversight committee.

The committee is charged with investigating deaths of anyone with a mental illness or physical disability receiving services by the state. They'll report their findings to the state Department of Human Services, which must respond to the committee based on its recommendations.

Members of the committee must be volunteers. Equip for Equality said the bill likely would not have passed if it required the state to pay the members, given the state's massive budget deficit.

The law's watchdog role into these deaths, the group said, comes at a critical moment as the state budget has scaled back social services.

"There's no question that (the Kents') personal story and willingness to share what happened made a huge difference and had a huge impact on legislators," said Equip President and CEO Xena Naiditch. "So I really think this is their bill, this is Brian's Law."

Enduring memory

In a room at the top of the stairs in the Oak Forest home of Jim and Linda Kent, a memorial to Brian hangs. A dried flower wreath from his funeral adorns his framed picture, flanked by fake ice cream sundaes.

Soft serve was his favorite.

They had to put up something to remember Brian, his parents said.

Indeed, Brian Kent will live on even after his memorial doesn't some day.

"It's not going to bring him back, but we're hoping the law really changes things for others," Jim Kent said. "I guess it makes his life worthwhile."

BRIAN'S LAW

In the eight years since 25-year-old Brian Kent died, his parents, Jim and Linda Kent, have struggled to find a way for their son to live on.

The Oak Forest couple saw their dream realized on July 23, when Gov. Pat Quinn signed what has become known as Brian's Law.

First introduced in the Illinois General Assembly in 2008, the bill received the overwhelming support of lawmakers this past spring session.

It helped that the Chicago-based Equip for Equality group, an advocate for people with disabilities, backed the bill after the Kents came to them in 2003 with the story of Brian's death. It's not often parents of children like Brian speak up, the group said.

The law creates an independent committee of experts to examine every death of a person with a mental illness or developmental disability who dies while receiving services at a state facility or community agency.

The team is volunteer-based and will report recommendations and findings to the Illinois Department of Human Services, which is required to respond. The committee must include people from the following professions:

• Physicians experienced in providing care to people with developmental disabilities and mental illness.

• Registered nurses experienced in providing care to people with developmental disabilities and mental illness.

• Psychiatrists.

• Psychologists.

• Department of Human Services staff not employed by the facility where the death occurred.

• Department of Public Health staff.

• State's attorney's representatives.

• Coroners or forensic pathologists.

• Staff from local hospitals, trauma centers or other emergency personnel.

The law takes effect Jan. 1.