Children Who Kill

In today’s world, murderers aren’t a surprising thing, as long as they are fictional. Plenty of TV shows and movies have plot lines around murder, but what about real life? As Scott Bonn states in his writing, of the approximate 15,000 murders in the United States, only 1 percent are serial killings, amounting to about 150 victims per year, with between 25 and 50 serial killers active at any given time. There are plenty of statistics on serial killers. 1 in 20 had the same three characteristics as a child: bedwetting, fire setting, and torturing animals. Animal torture is a common indicator that the child will be violent in the future. Also, over 30 percent of murderers use killing as a way for their sexual arousal (Stone). A murderer

Ever heard of the zodiac killer? He was a serial killer who operated in northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The killer's identity remains unknown. The Zodiac murdered victims in 5 states between December 1968 and October 1969. The general profile for a serial killer is a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern. There are many types of serial killers. There are natural born killers who are born willing to kill someone, insane killers which have mental and physical disorders and criminaloids who do not exhibit specific traits. The childhood of a serial killer would typically be someone who is neglected by their family mainly their mothers. They tend to be antisocial and have anger issues. Poor families often cannot provide what the child always wants so they might commit crimes to get want they want. Abused children have a higher chance of being killers also because they have a lot of built up aggression and anger. All can lead to substance abuse which is never a good thing to mix in with a potential serial killer in the making. General behavioral progression from pre-crime to post-crime are that they use killing as a source of relief. Before committing a serious crime they could have built up anger and hatred. They is a high possibility that they are suffering from depression and anxiety too. After killing someone the killer feels relieved. They also feel

If an underaged child were to commit a major crime such as murder they don’t deserve to be tried as an adult because due to various reasons. You still have to think about the rest of the child’s life ahead of him and how young he is. Children should be held responsible for their crimes although they shouldn't be charged as adults and need to be punished to a certain extent. They may be influenced by a grown up or relative who is involved with criminal activity. They may not know better than what they’re doing and most likely still have time to grow older and learn how to right their wrongs.

Other sources, such as USA Today, states that the murders got what they deserved by going to prison for the rest of their lives, with a possibility of parole. To conclude, It is clear to see that although people should believe that even if a very young child commits a crime, they still should have to pay the price for their actions. Having the justice system choose the fate is fairer to the victim’s family because they can rest easier knowing that they are paying for what the child

Children are not mature and sometimes are unaware of the consequences that have taken place due to their actions. Taking someone’s life can be very dangerous, but if you are young enough to commit an adult crime then you should be charged as an adult as well.

This paper will examine a juvenile school shooter that killed a teacher, the principal, and two students in their school. The school shooter has been tried in adult court and sentenced as an adult, due to the number of people killed the school shooter may be sentenced to capital punishment. This paper will provide an analysis of New York State laws regarding capital punishment of juveniles as well as risk factors including development risk factors that might have contributed to the actions of the school shooter. Further, recommended forensic risk assessment tools appropriate for this situation will be discussed as well as any ethical concerns that might impact this case based on personal biases leading to weaknesses with regard to effectively communicating result of the forensic assessments with the offender being sentenced to death. This paper will provide details on other states and their death penalty laws regarding juvenile offenders, the reason for this added information is that states laws pertaining to capital punishment vary. Lastly, this paper will provide preventative information for juveniles who intend to commit crimes such as this one and how to effectively assist a juvenile with feelings that relate to that of the school shooter.

Clay. This article was titled “Listening to Killers”, and it discusses killers and what may have caused them to commit their crime, as well as some other ideas about killers and the justice system. She writes that the killers she talked with “had developed a hypersensitivity to threat. That comes from being traumatized.” “When you're threatened, you're morally entitled and psychologically required to defend yourself.” She also described that some killers thought process went something like this: “get them before they get you.” This is , as she describes it, “a war zone mentality.” This means that these teen killers feel threatened by whom can usually be described as their parents. When they feel threatened by them, they feel that it’s necessary to fight back, and in these cases, kill them. This is just a normal response in an abnormal situation. These kids aren't evil. Together, these three examples make it clear to see that these juvenile murderers are just in a horrible situation, and they feel that the only way out, the only way to survive, is by killing their parents. If these kids aren’t just mad or evil, why are we throwing them

    Although these kids are young, they are still murderers and still criminals. An example of this, Lionel Tate, he was “...twelve when he savagely beat to death a six-year-old girl” (Lundstrom 87). He was sentenced to life in prison after this crime, which was blamed on pro wrestling. What about Thomas A. Preciado, who “...was fourteen when he stabbed to death a minimart clerk” (Lundstrom 87)? He was also tried as an adult after committing this unnecessary crime. These crimes are gruesome and the kids are old enough to know better.

Reason being that Gail Garinger states in his article that they are to young and that there minds are not fully developed. Kids that are young mainly do not know what they are doing and do not double think before committing their actions. Marjie Lundstrom mentions that, “the nation’s juvenile arrest rate for murder fell sixty-eight percent from 1993-1999. They also hit the lowest level since 1966, according to the Justice Department.” This percentage to me makes me believe that they might know what they are doing if the percentage can even reach this

Initially, young people who commit violent crimes should be sentenced as adults. The question here is fairly simple: when a child kills, can this very same child, at the same time, be considered as an adult for his/her own action? Children in modern society are more sophisticated at a younger age, encouraged by their parents and teachers to work as functional adults. At a very young age, children have learned to make decisions on their own. The idea of childhood, a time which the adults or guardians prepare the children for maturity, ended rather rapidly in cases of juvenile criminals. By way of example, Jordan Brown at age 11 was arrested in

Serial killers are made not born. The term “serial killer” or “serial murderer” means to murder three to four victims through a span of days, weeks, months, or even years with a “cooling period” in the middle. The components that impact the making of a serial killer are so much broader than just the Macdonald Triad of bedwetting, pyromania and animal cruelty; it has been proven that a person’s early years are the most critical years. A youngster's initial couple of years are a period of experimentation, a chance to make sense of things for themselves, an opportunity to put the pieces of the puzzle in place. As an infant, the brain development is dependent on its surroundings.

Teenagers may not be as developed as adults, but they can make decisions. Especially important ones. Killing somebody is definitely a huge decision. While children may be more impulsive than adults, in the cases I have read about, the teenagers contemplate killing the person many times before they actually do it. In November 2001, Alex and Derek King hatched a plan where they would kill their father so they could move in with Rick Chavis, a friend of their dads who Alex was also having a sexual relationship with. Firefighters responded to a call at the King residence and there they found the body of 40-year-old Terry King on the couch with his skull open and his face bashed in.

Teenage murders get classified into degrees according to their actions. The state categorizes them into “first, second and possibly third degree” but usually many teens fall into the first degree (The History of Juvenile Justice). The first degree consists of “killing of a child by the use of unreasonable force, killing committed in a pattern of domestic abuse, murder of a law enforcement officer, and homicides occurring in the commission of other crimes such as arson, rape, robbery or other violent crimes”(First Degree Murder). Despite this, teenager’s get judged differently because they are younger and not considered adults yet. Being said, the court will decide what to do with the teen because they “can’t get a sentence with life in prison” even if they had done something very harsh (Cohen). They can’t get a sentence because they are categorized as less culpable than other criminals. In fact, there is said to be people who are incapable of committing a crime. To hold someone accountable for a crime there had to be two things involved. First of all, “the person had to have a vicious will” to commit crime and secondly “the person had to commit an unlawful act” in order to be accused (The History of Juvenile Justice). However, the teen does get judged and the state can forfeiture some of the most basic liberties, but they don’t have the right to do anything harsh with the teen. The U.S Supreme Court had

There are many traits that make a serial killer, with abuse during childhood playing a major factor. The four main aspects of abuse that seem to make killers are: emotional, psychological, sexual and physical abuse. The serial killer group has six times more reported physical abuse during childhood than the general population. Research has demonstrated that many serial killers have much in common when it comes to their childhood experiences Emotional abuse often diminishes a child’s self-esteem, making it hard for them to adapt to their surroundings, such as situations involving school or work. Due to this factor, most serial killers often find it hard to keep jobs and intimate relationships for longer than a very short period of time. Emotional neglect also impairs a child’s ability to develop empathy, therefore lacking compassion. If the child grows up to become a murderer, having no empathy means they are able to kill someone without

The reason for choosing this topic was because I have always been fascinated as to why children do these crimes, were there warning signs before? I don’t understand why children choose to murder; I also would like to learn what was studied and why young children do such crimes. I would like to also learn the background of these children, what they were exposed to, what characters they all have in common.