In the past five years, over 542 people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents, relatives, or caregivers.
On Saturday, March 1st, the disability community will gather virtually and across the nation to remember these disabled victims of filicide – disabled people murdered by their family members or caregivers.
In the year since our last vigil, our community has continued to lose people to filicide. These are just the cases that we are aware of – since we began monitoring this issue, we learn about more murders every week. We read the victims’ names, see their photographs, and gather what information we can about their lives. The criminal justice system has continued to give lighter sentences to parents and caregivers who murder disabled children. And we have seen the news media continue to portray these murders in a sympathetic light. We hold the Day of Mourning vigils to draw attention to these injustices, to commemorate the lives of victims, and demand justice and equal protection under the law for all people with disabilities.
Since 2012, ASAN and other disability rights organizations have come together to send a clear message that disability is not a justification for violence. To learn more or sign up to lead a vigil, view the Anti-Filicide toolkit.
We will be hosting our Virtual Vigil on Saturday, March 1st – and we hope to see you there if you cannot find or attend a vigil in your area.
A small number of vigils will take place on February 28; these are noted below.
COVID-19
Some Day of Mourning vigils are virtual, while others are in-person. We recommend that each person consider the potential risks, and make sure to wear a mask and social distance if you attend an in-person vigil. If you are concerned about attending a vigil in-person, please consider attending ours or another virtual vigil in your area.
All vigils below are virtual unless otherwise noted.
2025 Vigil Sites
USA
ASAN Virtual Vigil
Online
Sick in Quarters (SiQ)
Online
[email protected]
U.S Gender and Disability Justice Alliance
Online
[email protected]
ALABAMA
Birmingham, AL
McCartney Hagar: [email protected]
CALIFORNIA
Orangevale, CA
Roxie Sawyer Mitchell: [email protected]
ILLINOIS
Chicago, IL (Hybrid: in-person and online) * February 28
The Institute on Disability and Human Development, Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition, and UIC Disability Cultural Center
[email protected]
MASSACHUSETTS
Brookline, MA (In-person)
Ben Davies: [email protected]
MARYLAND
College Park, MD * February 28
University of Maryland
[email protected]
MICHIGAN
Ann Arbor, MI (In-person)
King of Kings Lutheran Church Ann Arbor
2685 Packard St
[email protected]
Ann Arbor, MI (In-person) * February 28
Disability Justice @ Michigan
[email protected]
Novi, MI
Holy Cross Episcopal Church, Novi MI
[email protected]
MINNESOTA
Minneapolis, MN (Hybrid)
[email protected]
NEW JERSEY
West Windsor, NJ (In-person) * February 28
Mercer County Community College
[email protected]
OREGON
Eugene, OR (In-person)
Jill Farrington: [email protected]
PENNSYLVANIA
Collegeville, PA (In-person)
Ursinus College
Jennifer Frymiare: [email protected]
TENNESSEE
Johnson City, TN
Courtney Johnson: [email protected]
Clarksville, TN (In-person; this event will have boxes of masks, hand sanitizer, gloves and tongs for food/drinks served available, and also asks anyone experiencing symptoms attend virtually.)
Inclusify Me!
[email protected]
Canada
Toronto, Ontario
Autistics for Autistics (A4A)
Online
[email protected]
United Kingdom
Mette Anwar-Westander
Online
[email protected]