View source for Karen McCarron

{{Autism rights movement}}
'''Karen McCarron''' is an [[Illinois]] [[physician]] who has admitted to smothering her [[autism|autistic]] daughter '''Katherine 'Katie' McCarron''' to death.<ref name=MotherConfesses>{{cite web|url=http://www.hoinews.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=8878|title=Police: Mother confesses to suffocating daughter: Autism has impact on families|publisher=HOI 19|author=Brogadir, Josh|date=[[May 17]], [[2006]]|accessdate=2007-11-08}}</ref> A grand jury indicted her on two counts of first-degree [[murder]], two counts of obstructing justice and one count of concealment of a homicidal death.<ref name=BoardSuspends>{{cite web|url=http://www.inclusiondaily.com/archives/07/01/09/010907ilmccarron.htm|title=Board Suspends Dr. McCarron's License Indefinitely|author=Reynolds, Dave|publisher=Inclusion Daily Express|date=[[January 9]], [[2007]]|accessdate=2007-11-08}}</ref>  The trial is scheduled for December 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pjstar.com/stories/110707/TRI_BERU36AD.007.php|title=McCarron trial date will stand: Judge denies postponement request for mother accused of killing daughter|date=[[November 7]], [[2007]]|author=Sampier, Kevin|accessdate=2007-11-08|quote=A Morton mother accused of suffocating her autistic daughter will not be given a sixth new trial date; she still is scheduled to go before a jury next month.}}</ref>

== Timeline ==
Karen and Paul McCarron's first child was Katherine, diagnosed with [[autism]] in 2004. In September of that year, Paul and Katie moved to [[North Carolina]] to live with her paternal grandmother.  This move was made so Katie could attend Mariposa School in [[Cary, North Carolina]], a special school for autistic children.<ref name=CCDI>{{cite press release|url=http://www.ccdionline.org/newsletter.php?article_id=26&|date=July–August 2006|title=Katie McCarron|author=Hayes, Jessica|publisher=Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois|accessdate=2007-11-08}}</ref> Paul and Katie returned home to Illinois on holidays.  Karen, who was a [[pathologist]] with the Peoria-Tazewell Pathology Group, stayed in Peoria with their younger daughter Emily, and visited North Carolina occasionally.<ref name=MotherConfesses/> 

After 20 months, the family decided to return full-time to Illinois.<ref name=CCDI/>  Paul McCarron took Katie to their home in Illinois on [[May 3]], [[2006]].  On [[May 7]], [[2006]], Paul returned to North Carolina to fulfill the last three weeks of his work commitment.  Katie remained in Illinois under the care of her mother and maternal grandparents, along with her younger sister.  On the afternoon of [[May 13]], [[2006]], Karen allegedly killed Katie by suffocating her in a plastic bag.  In the very early hours of Sunday morning, Karen McCarron tried to overdose on over-the-counter medication.<ref name=CCDI/>

== Reaction ==
News articles and weblogs have emphasized the difficulties in raising a child with autism, and some suggested that McCarron may have been stressed by lack of support and dealing with Katie's autism.  Katie's grandfather, Michael McCarron, said:<ref name=Grandfather>{{cite web|url=http://www.inclusiondaily.com/archives/06/05/24/052406ilmccarron.htm|publisher=Inclusion Daily Express|title=Grandfather Says Girl's Murder Had Nothing To Do With Autism|author=Reynolds, Dave|date=[[May 24]], [[2006]]|accessdate=2007-11-08}}</ref>{{cquote|This was not about autism.  This was not about a lack of support.}} Some autistics have rallied in favor of a conviction of McCarron and Katie's death garnered intense scrutiny within the [[autism rights movement]] and among disability advocates.<ref name=CCDI/><ref name=Wiretap>{{cite web|url=http://www.wiretapmag.org/stories/38631/|publisher=Wiretap Magazine|title=Autism: the Art of Compassionate Living|author=Liss, Jennifer|date=[[July 11]], [[2006]]|accessdate=2007-11-08}}</ref> Autism Hub held a memorial on [[May 24]] and the disability rights group [[Not Dead Yet]] led the charge to reveal the facts of the case.<ref name=CCDI/> The local media is responding to advocates who criticize them for sympathic reporting towards alleged perpetrators.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.inclusiondaily.com/archives/06/06/30/063006ilmckarron.htm|title=Police Accuse Mother Of Trying To Poison Daughter; Media Softens Approach Toward Victims|author=Reynolds, Dave|publisher=Inclusion Daily Express|date=[[June 30]], [[2006]]|accessdate=2007-11-08}}</ref>

== References ==
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[[Category:Autism]]
[[Category:Disability rights]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People who killed their children]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
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