The story of Marcus Fiesel—the three-year-old boy who died in August of 2006—seems to just keep getting sadder. Marcus was left bound up in a closet while his foster parents, Dave and Liz Carroll, went to attend a family reunion in Kentucky, accompanied by Amy Baker, “their live-in girlfriend,” and the family dog, as reported in the April 28th Middletown Journal. Marcus is described as “developmentally disabled”; it has been suggested that he had autism or possibly Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS).
Now Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters is urging Marcus’ biological mother, Donna Trevino, to claim his remains and bury him. According to Deters, Trevino has refused an offer from the county to oversee funeral services for Marcus and worked instead with a local funeral home.
[Lori ]Hicks [of Baker-Stevens Funeral Home in Middletown] said Trevino is interested in receiving the remains and giving Marcus an appropriate burial. Hicks said she has been in contact with authorities from the Hamilton County Coroner’s office for the past week, and the remains could be released as early as next week.
“I certainly understand your decision to not accept our offer to provide the remains of Marcus Fiesel a proper burial,” Deters wrote to Trevino. “What I cannot understand is your failure to claim Marcus’ remains and put him to rest.”
It seems sadder and sadder that the very funeral arrangements for Marcus should be the cause of dispute. There is one brighter note in this: Thanks to the efforts of Butler County Deputy Tim Hubbard, more than $9000 has been raised to build memorials to Marcus at area parks, and to provide scholarships for autistic children at special schools.
Every time I read about Marcus I think, his was a story that was barely beginning.
Children (even autistic) are a gift from God. I cannot imagine how anyone would think of them as a burden.
I hadn’t heard this. How sad. He never even had a chance at life.