Dennis Merryman was 8 years old when he died of starvation. He had been adopted from Russia some years earlier along with four brothers and sisters. His Maryland parents, Samuel and Donna Merryman, devout Christians who served as Sunday school teachers, homeschooled Dennis and his siblings. When Dennis died in January of 2005, he weighed 37 pounds, 2 pounds lighter than he had when examined by a doctor in October of 2000.
Date: January 22, 2005
Location: Whiteford, Harford County, Maryland
| Documents: | Date: |
| NCFA statement | 2005-08-05 |
| Russian prosecutors investigating adoption procedure of boy who died in US from starvation | 2005-08-05 |
| American family starves 8-year-old boy adopted in Russia to death | 2005-08-08 |
| U.S. Couple Charged With Killing Adopted 8-Year-Old | 2005-08-08 |
| Child Maltreatment, Child Abuse Fatalities Among Internationally Adopted Children | 2007-11-01 |
| Harford couple plead guilty | 2008-02-26 |
| Couple plead guilty to abuse in son’s death | 2008-02-28 |
| Witnesses defend parents guilty of abusing son | 2008-04-16 |
| Prison for child’s death | 2008-04-18 |
| Harford couple sentenced to 22 years after guilty plea in son’s starvation death | 2008-04-18 |
| Starvation Case Has Senator Asking Questions | 2008-04-20 |
| Merryman kids’ fate uncertain after their parents’ conviction | 2008-04-22 |
| Adoptions examined after Russian boy dies | 2009-01-02 |
