A number of child killings have been recorded throughout the years. These often have involved disturbing acts one can hardly imagine a child suffering through. These cases are becoming more controversial as the number of child killings increases every year. However, what happens if that innocent and vulnerable – looking child is the one responsible for the abduction and murders in your neighborhood? Would you believe the accusations made of someone so young? Could a child really commit such crimes? These are not your typical childish crimes of stealing toys from a friend , or bullying a schoolmate. This is the list for the top 10 young killers. There is a small amount of overlap from the list of evil children, for the sake of including people that really do deserve to be on this list.
At 13, Eric Smith was bullied because if his thick glasses, freckles, long red hair and one other quality : He had protruding, elongated ears. These were believed to be a side effect of medicine his mother was taking for her epilepsy when she was pregnant. A psychiatrist diagnosed Smith with intermittent explosive disorder, a condition in which a person can not control inner rage.
On August 2, 1993, Derrick s body was found in a small patch of woods, halfway between the park where he was headed, and his home. Evidence showed that Derrick was lured from the sidewalk and strangled. But at he time the killer’s identity was unknown.
Eric chose to end Derrick Robles life, and he chose to do it in a way that was more than just a killing. He discovered and dug up one very large rock and one smaller rock, and he battered Derrick with those rocks. He went into Derrick s lunch bag and he smashed a banana and took Derrick s Kool-aid, and he actually poured that Kool-aid into the wound that had been made by the rocks. And he sodomized Derrick with a small stick he had found.
According to lead investigator Charles Wood, the killer then arranged Derrick s body: “The left sneaker had been removed and was lying near Derrick’s right hand. And his right sneaker was removed and was lying near Derrick s left hand. It almost looked like the body had been posed in that position.”
Five days after he was killed, Derrick was buried in his baseball uniform. And just two days later, his killer confessed. Eric knew full well that his actions were wrong because he admitted that he lured Derrick into the woods for the killing so no one could see.
But throughout his trial, Eric’s face was eerily blank. He showed no emotion and expressed no remorse. At the heart of the trial, which took place in August 1994, was the haunting question : Why did Eric kill? At the end of the trial , the ultimate question was left unanswered. Smith never did explain why he killed Derrick.
A decade later Smith finally provides an answer. Smith had given the parole board a chilling explanation for the killing. When asked why he did it, Smith said, “Because instead of me being hurt, I was hurting someone else.”
To honor Derrick, volunteers bulldozed the scene of the crime, and put in a new ball field ---- I memory of the little T – ball player. As of 2011, Eric has been in prison for six years and denied parole five times.
What started as a regular room cleaning ended with the conviction of a 14 – year – old boy named Joshua Phillips. His mother went to clean up his room one morning after Phillips left for school. Mrs. Phillips noticed a wet spot under her son’s bed and thought it was a leak from her son’s waterbed. As she was investigating the bed to see if it needed to be drained, she found electrical tape holding the frame together. She thought her son had known about the leak but didn’t want to get into any trouble. She moved enough tape to discover her son’s sock underneath, but she was surprised to feel something cold. The beam of her flashlight showed her the dead body of Maddie Clifton, an 8 – year – old neighbor who had been missing for seven days.
People in the community, especially the boy’s parents, could hardly believe he could have killed Clifton. Phillips was one of the neighbors who had volunteered to search for the missing girl. Because he was under 16, Phillips did not qualify for the death penalty. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, with no possibility of being freed. To this day, Phillips has not stated his motives for killing Clifton. He said he accidentally hit her in the eye with a baseball bat, and then he dragged her to his room where he hit and stabbed her, but the jury did not believe his story.
A medical examiner testified in the 1999 trial that the girl’s head had been bashed and that she had stab wounds in her neck. The autopsy showed that she was still alive when Phillips shoved her underneath his water bed mattress.
After confessing to the murder, Josh was arrested and taken into custody. Four days after Josh was arrested, Maddie was buried. In July, Josh’s trial began. There was a great deal of evidence against him: the baseball bat, the knife, and Josh’s tennis shoes stained with Maddie’s blood. But the most damaging piece was Josh’s confession.
The jury returned after only two hours with a verdict of first – degree murder which means that Josh will spend the rest of his life in prison. The trial only lasted two days because Josh’s lawyers presented no witnesses or evidence. This case was open and shut. There was no clear motive for Maddie’s death.
On June 16, 1944, the United States set a record when they executed George Stinney (14 years old), the youngest person to be legally executed in the U. S. during the twentieth century. George was convicted of the murder of two girls named Betty June Binnicker (11), and Mary Emma Thames (8), who both were found in a muddy hole. The girls suffered severe fractures to their skulls, inflicted by a railroad spike found some distance from the town. George confessed to the crime and said that he wanted to have sex with Betty but ended up killing the girls. He was tried and sentenced to death in the electric chair, the case was not appealed because his family had no money to pay for a continuation.
No physical evidence existed in the case, and the sole evidence against Stinney was the circumstantial fact that the girls had spoken with Stinney and his sister shortly before their murder, and the testimony of three police officers that Stinney had confessed.
Stinney’s trial had an all – white jury due to black people being denied the right to vote, which was required for them to serve as jurors. Stinney’s counsel did not call any witnesses. Trial presentation lasted two and a half hours. The jury took ten minutes to deliberate, after which they returned with a guilty verdict.
The execution of Stinney was carried out at Central Correctional Institution in Columbia on June 16,1944 . At 7:30 pm, Stinney walked to the execution chamber with a Bible under his arm , which he later used as a booster seat in the electric chair. Standing 5 ft 1 inch tall and weighing just over 90lbs, his size (relative to adult prisoners ), presented difficulties in securing him to the frame holding the electrodes. Also, the state’s adult – sized face mask did not fit him ; as he was hit with the first , 400 surge of electricity, the mask covering his face slipped off revealing his wide – open tearful eyes and saliva coming from his mouth . . . After two more jolts of electricity, the boy was dead.
During the execution, the surges of electricity made Stinney’s body shake and his left hand broke free from the buckle holding him down. Stinney was declared dead within four minutes of the initial electrocution. From the time of the murders until Stinney’s execution, 83 days had passed. Since Stinney’s conviction and execution, the question of his guilt, the validity of his confession, and the judicial process leading to his execution have been criticized as “suspicious at best and a miscarriage of justice at worst. “
In December 2014, Stinney was exonerated on the basis that his confession was coerced and that he was wrongfully convicted without a fair trial. His conviction was posthumously vacated 70 years after his execution.
What might be thought of as a regular TV wrestling match led to the death of a six –year –old named Tiffany Eunick. Kathleen Grosette – Tate was trusted to babysit Tiffany and brought her over to her house one evening. She left Tiffany with her son Lionel, age 14, to watch the television when she went upstairs. Around 10pm, she yelled at the children to be quiet, but didn’t check what the noise was about, thinking that they were just playing. Forty – five minutes later, Lionel called to his mother and told her that the girl was not breathing. He explained that they had been wrestling and he had her in a headlock as he slammed her on the table.
Authorities were called and a medical examiner reported that the cause of death was due to forceful stomping that lacerated Tiffany’s liver. Aside from that, experts testified that the girl suffered a fractured skull and rib, swelling in the brain, from a beating that lasted from one to five minutes, and 35 other injuries.
Tate changed his statement later and said that he jumped on her from the staircase. Tate was sentenced to a lifetime of imprisonment without parole in 2001, but his sentence was overturned on the basis he was not given a mental competency hearing before, or during the trial. He was released in 2004 with 10 years probation.
In sentencing Tate to life imprisonment, Judge Joel T. Lazarus of Broward County Circuit Court said that “The acts of Lionel Tate were not the playful acts of a child . . . The acts of Lionel Tate were cold, callous and indescribably cruel.” The sentence was controversial because Tate was 12 years old at the time of the death, and his victim was 6. He was the youngest person in modern US history to be sentenced to life imprisonment, bringing broad criticism on the treatment of juvenile offenders in the justice system of the State of Florida. Florida statutes required the jury to convict Tate of first – degree murder even if the jury did not believe that he intended to kill or injure anyone ---- all that was required was that Tate knowingly abused another child who died as a result.
The rule for such convictions is known as the felony murder rule. The sufficient conditions of the felony murder rule were listed by the judge during sentencing. Thus, Tate was sentenced to life in prison without the prosecution having to prove that he intended to kill or injure, or realize that his acts are likely to kill or injure, or even that a typical child of his age would or should realize this.
On February 2, 1996, the Frontier Middle School was devastated by a hostage – taking incident and shooting spree that occurred in an algebra class. It took the lives of three people (two students and a teacher), and resulted in the critical injury of one student. The person accused was a 14 – year –old boy named Barry Dale Loukaitis, who was experiencing delusional and messianic thoughts before the shooting. Barry was dressed to look like a gun slinger from the Wild West in a black duster, and armed with a. 30-30 caliber pistol and a .25 caliber pistol that belonged to his father. The students were held hostage for 10 minutes before a gym coach tricked and out witted the boy.
It was believed that, aside from a history of mental illness and dysfunctional issues in his family, Barry was influenced by Pearl Jam’s song and video “Jeremy. “ The video shows a troubled youth committing suicide in front of his classmates and teacher. It was also reported that he said “This sure beats algebra, doesn’t it?”, when he saw his classmates panic. This is a quote from a Stephen King novel, Rage, in which the protagonist kills two teachers and takes his algebra class hostage.
On September 24, 1997, Loukaitis was convicted of two counts of first – degree murder, one count of second – degree murder, one count of attempted first – degree murder, and 16 counts of aggravated kidnapping. He was sentenced to serve two life sentences and an additional 205 years without the possibility of parole. He is currently imprisoned at the Clallam Bay Corrections Center in Washington state.
Loukaitis could be re – sentenced due to a US Supreme Court decision, in which people convicted of a murder they committed under 16 years of age, can be paroled in 25 years; Loukaitis could be released as early as 2021.
It was the night of July 27, 1987, when 13-year-old Craig Price committed his first murder. In Warwick, Rhode Island, Price broke into a home that was only two houses away from his own. He took a knife from the kitchen and stabbed 27 – year – old Rebecca Spencer 58 times, killing her.
Joan Heaton (39), along with her two daughters, Jennifer (10) and Melissa (8), were found lifeless, blood – soaked and brutally murdered in their home on September 4, 1989. They were stabbed so fiercely that the knife broke off in Melissa’s neck. Police reported that Joan had approximately 60 stab wounds, while the young girls had approximately 30.
The authorities believed that burglary was the suspect’s main motive; the knife used was from the Heaton’s kitchen and the women had probably caught the suspect and fought against him. It was also believed the burglar must have been someone of the Heaton’s neighborhood, who would have obtained a cut or wound in the hand, due to the force and number of times the victims were stabbed.
Craig was spotted by the police with a bandage on his hand, but said that he had smashed a cars window. The police did not believe his story. They investigated him and charged him after finding the knife, gloves, and other bloody items when they searched Craig’s room.
He admitted to the murder that had taken place in the neighborhood years earlier. The authorities already suspected him as the murderer in that case, which was similar to Heaton’s and had started as a burglary. Craig was tried and convicted before his 16th birthday, and is still in jail. Price maintains that he has paid his debt to society, and that he is being kept in jail partially due to racism.
At an early age, Graham Young had been fascinated with chemistry, particularly types of poison and their effects on people. His other great interest was idolizing people such as Dr. Hawley Crippen, William Palmer, Adolf Hitler and others. Young started experimenting with poisons when he was 14.
He usually lied about his age, and explained that a given poison was for a school experiment so he could buy the chemicals he needed. His family and friends were his victims. His father upon becoming ill, originally thought he just had a virus of some sort. Then the apparent illness struck his wife and daughter. All suffered from continues vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pains. In 1962, the mother of Young’s stepmother died from poison.
At 14, Young already had the expertise of a post graduate chemistry student, all self – learned through library books. He sometimes became a victim of his own poisoning when he forgot on which foods he placed his toxic chemicals.
Young was caught when his teacher inspected his desk one evening after school, suspicious about the odd experiments Young was suggesting to the class. The teacher found poisons, essays about famous prisoners, and sketches of dying men. These revelations led him to call the police.
Young was sent to a maximum security hospital, but this does not stop him from poisoning hospital staff and fellow inmates (one of whom died ). His knowledge was so broad that he could extract cyanide from laurel bush leaves. Young was released when he was 23, and went to live with his sister.
His poisoning spree continued ---- his victims most often were coworkers. After his release in 1971, he went on to poison 70 more people, two of whom died. Young who was known as the ‘Teacup Poisoner’, was then sent to Parkhurst Prison where he died of a heart attack in 1990.
Jesse Pomeroy, born on November 29, 1859, in Charleston, Massachusetts, was referred to as the youngest person convicted of a murder, in the first degree, in the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Pomeroy started his cruel acts against other children when he was 11. He had taken and trapped seven children in a hidden spot where he would strip, tie and torture them, by using a knife or by poking pins into their flesh. He was caught and sent to a reform school, where he was supposed to stay until he was 21, but was released after a year and a half for good behavior.
After three years, he had changed from bad to worse. He kidnapped and killed a 10 – year –old girl, named Katie Curran, and was also accused of the murder of a four – year –old boy, whose mutilated body was found in Dorchester Bay. Although there is a lack of evidence that can conclusively link Pomeroy to the little boy’s death, he was convicted for the death of Katie when the police found her body in the basement of Pomeroy’s mother’s dress shop, where it was carelessly left in an ash heap.
Pomeroy was pronounced guilty on December 10, 1947, with the jury’s recommendation of mercy on the account of the prisoner’s youth. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, which he served in solitary confinement; he died of natural causes at the age of 72.
A psychiatric report on Pomeroy made in 1914, and quoted extensively in the Boston Globe after his death, noted Pomeroy had made 10 or 20 “determined attempts “ to escape, and that handmade tools were frequently found in his possession. A prison warden reported finding rope, steel pens and a drill that Pomeroy had concealed in his cell or on his person.
According to Globe, Pomeroy lost an eye after attempting to destroy the side of his cell by redirecting a gas pipe. The 1914 psychiatric report claimed the Pomeroy had shown the “ greatest ingenuity and a persistence which is unprecedented in the history of the prison.”
James Bulger’s mother left her two –year –old son at the butcher shop’s door thinking that it would not take her long to return since there was no queue in the store. Little did she know that it would be the last time she would see her son alive.
Jon and Robert, who were at the same mall as the Bulger’s , were participating in their usual activities : skipping class, browsing the stores, pocketing things when the sales people turned their backs, and climbed chairs in the restaurants until they were chased out.
The boys came up with an idea to have a little boy get lost outside so that he would be knocked over by a vehicle. It was reported that the boys had a similar previous attempt on a boy before James, which failed because the mother had become aware of her missing child and found him before they could take him outside.
During their two mile walk, the 10 – year –old boys had punched, kicked, picked up and dropped James on his head. They led Bulger up a steep bank to a railway line near the disused Walton S. Anfield railway station, close to Anfield cemetery, where they began torturing him.
At this location, one of the boys threw blue modeling paint, which they had shoplifter earlier, into Bulger’s left eye. They kicked and stomped on him, and threw bricks and stones at him. Batteries were placed in Bulger’s mouth. Finally, a 22 lb iron bar described as a railway fishplate, was dropped on him. Bulger suffered ten skull fractures as a result of the iron bar striking his head. Dr. Alan Williams, the case’s pathologist, stated that Bulger suffered from so many injuries ---42 in total --- That none could be isolated as the fatal blow.
Before they left him, the boys laid Bulger across the railway tracks and weighted his head down with rubble, in the hope that a train would hit him and make his death appear to be an accident. After Bulger’s killers left the scene, his body was cut in half by a train. Bulger’s severed body was discovered two days later, on February 14. A forensic pathologist testified that he had died before he was struck by the train.
Brian Howe was found dead and covered with purple weeds and grass, days after the death of Martin Brown who died of asphyxiation. His hair was cut away, puncture marks were found on his thighs , and his genitals were partially skinned. Apart from these marks and injuries, a letter “M” had been imprinted on his stomach. This was originally an “N” but Mary added a line to make it look like an “M.” The three – year –old had been strangled to death.
When the investigation narrowed down to Mary Bell, she implicated herself by describing in detail pair of broken scissors ---- which was confidential evidence ---- that had been played with by an 8 – year –old boy, whom Brian was allegedly with, according to Bell.
Mary’s family background may be responsible for her unusual behavior. She thought for a long time that her father was Billy Bell, a habitual criminal who had been arrested for armed robbery, but her biological father is unknown to this day.
Mary claimed that her mother, Betty, who was a prostitute, had forced her to engage in sexual acts with men ---particularly her mother’s clients --- at the age of four. Mary ended up at an all – boys facility after her trial; she was too young to be held in prison and too dangerous to be kept in an unequaled mental hospital or institution that housed troubled children. Her mother repeatedly sold Mary’s story to the press at the time of her daughter’s conviction. Mary was only 11 at the time.
In 1980, Bell, age 23, was released from Askham Grange open prison, having served 12 years and was granted anonymity (including a new name) allowing her to start a new life. Four years later she had a daughter born on May 25, 1984; Bell’s daughter did not know of her mother’s past until Bell’s location was discovered by reporters in 1998 and she and her mother had to leave their house with bed sheets over their heads.
Bell’s daughter’s anonymity was originally protected only until she reached the age of 18. However, on May 21, 2003, Bell won a High Court battle to have her own anonymity and that of her daughter, extended for life. Any court order permanently protecting the identity of a convict in Britain is consequently sometimes known as a “Mary Bell” order. In 2009, it was reported that Bell had become a Grandmother.
It’s so hard to imagine a child having so much anger that it causes them to actually kill another child. Yet there are so many more cases that show this to be true. Where do they get the mindset to cause such violent acts? Is there a way to prevent these heinous crimes? Where does the blame lie --- with their parents ----or with their playmates? So many questions with no real answers. The best we can do is study these and other cases and hope those studies unravel the mysteries that surround such young murderers and victims.
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