EuthaNEWSia (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Andrea Ball of The Statesman in Austin introduces the story: Kim Yarbrough of Austin recently received 10 years' probation for killing her profoundly disabled husband, Lloyd, last May, when she also tried to kill herself. Lloyd Yarbrough had lost the ability to walk, talk and perform even basic functions such as swallowing after contracting encephalitis.

Ball then reports:
It's been one year since Kim Yarbrough killed her husband and then tried to commit suicide. She's still not sure what to make of herself or her actions. All she knows is that Lloyd was unhappy, in pain and possibly headed back to nursing home care, which he despised. Lloyd Yarbrough, a 62-year-old woodworker, had been left profoundly disabled by encephalitis. He had lived nearly two years without being able to walk or talk. Kim Yarbrough said the decision to take his life with an overdose of prescription pills came in a moment born from depression, frustration, exhaustion and the overwhelming responsibility of caring for a chronically ill man.

"I don't know what I took from Lloyd by taking his life," she said. "What I know is that what I saw for his future was going back to the nursing home. And he didn't want that." She could have spent the rest of her life in prison for murder. Instead, Travis County prosecutors recently agreed to a deal that allowed her to plead guilty to injury to a disabled person. She was sentenced earlier this month to 10 years' probation and 400 hours of community service.

"It was a very sad, very tragic situation," prosecutor John Neal said. "Every indication we had was that these people were very deeply in love and cared tremendously for each other." Now, with the threat of prison time gone, Yarbrough, 53, is trying to make a life without Lloyd. [Thanks to Lamar Hankins and the World right-to-die news list for the alert on this story.]

[There is information in the Notes section below.]

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Ball, Andrea. "After ending husband's life, woman tries to go on with hers". The Statesman. Published: 10:31 p.m. Sunday, May 9, 2010. <www.statesman.com/news/local/after-ending-husbands-life-woman-tries-to-go-679357.html>. Austin American-Statesman, P.O. Box 670, Austin, Texas 78767, U.S.A.

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The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201005100802.
Mailed: Monday, May 10, 2010 14:13:58 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>.

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