Lisa Holland struck her 7 year old adopted son Ricky in the head with a hammer and didn’t seek medical help while he slowly died. Lisa and her husband Tim dumped Ricky’s body in a swamp and said he had disappeared. Police found the body six months later, and Lisa and Tim were charged in his death and given long prison terms. Lisa had withdrawn him from school to be homeschooled over a year before his death in a dispute over whether he needed special-education services. The child endured a variety of abuse before his death, including food deprivation and being tied up in the family’s basement.

Date: July 1, 2005
Location: Summit Township, Michigan