A mother's questions about why her autistic son was killed
Jill Harrington, who counseled many in their grief, is living her own
In March 2026, police officers shot and killed Alex LaMorie outside his community living facility in suburban Maryland (US). Mr. LaMorie’s mother, who has provided grief counseling to the pubic safety officers and the families of individuals with disabilities who were injured or killed in such encounters, has been coping with her own grief since her son’s killing. In an article for the Washington Post of 26 July 2026 entitled, “A counselor saved people in crisis. She questions why no one saved her son: Police shot and killed Jill Harrington’s autistic son — nearly 14 years after another mother fought to make sure first responders received better training,” Jasmine Golden reported about how Ms. Harrington has fared.
As a clinician, Jill Harrington has counseled first responders through some of their darkest thoughts following traumatic deaths and suicides they experienced on the job or in their families.
There are people who “wouldn’t be on the planet if it wouldn’t have been for her,” said Adam Workman, a veteran and firefighter who has referred first responders in Virginia to Harrington as part of a peer-support network.
But for the past four-and-a-half months, Harrington has been haunted by one life that wasn’t saved: her son’s.
As in her original reporting about the incident, Ms. Golden provided sensitive and compassionate coverage of the continuing aftermath of the loss of their son that Ms. Harrington1 and David Carey, Alex LaMorie’s stepfather have experienced in the months since the death. Please be forewarned that some readers of Special Education Today will probably have, understandably, intense feelings (frustration? anger? horror? sadness?) when they they read Ms. Golden’s report.
Footnote
Readers may want to know that Ms. Harrington has a Ph.D. in social work and is a licensed clinical social worker. In her work such as a video she recorded for a counseling organization called “Open to Hope Foundation,” she introduced herself as “Dr. Harrington.” As a general practice on Special Education Today, we usually refer to people as “Ms.” or “Mr.,” not by “Dr.”; by referring to her as “Ms. Harrington” in this article, I mean no disrespect.