Pedicide, child murder, child manslaughter, or child homicide is the

homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

of an individual who is a minor.

Punishment by jurisdiction

United States

In 2008, there were 1,494 child homicides in the United States. Of those killed, 1,035 were male and 452 were female. Several U.S. states have included child murder to their list of aggravating factors that may make a murder punishable by the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

, but the victim’s age under which the crime is a capital crime varies between them. In 2011, Texas raised this age from six to ten. Child

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

can result in an aggravated charge in some jurisdictions such as the State of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

United Kingdom

Any murder in the United Kingdom carries a

mandatory life sentence Mandatory sentencing requires that offenders serve a predefined term for certain crimes, commonly serious and violent offenses. Judges are bound by law; these sentences are produced through the legislature, not the judicial system. They are inst ...

. In England and Wales, murder of a child involving sexual or sadistic conduct or abduction of the victim can result in a whole life order (i.e. life imprisonment without the possibility of parole) being imposed where the offender is at least 21 years old. Sentencing guidelines state that where the offender is under 21, the starting point is a minimum term of 30 years.

By other children

In most countries, there are very few cases where children are killed by other children. According to the U.S. Department of Justice statistics for 1996, one in five murders of children were committed by other children. Several murders by children have gained prominent media exposure. One was the killing on 12 February 1993 of the 2-year-old boy James Bulger by two 10-year-old boys in

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Histo ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, UK. He was beaten and stoned before his unconscious body was left on train tracks to give the impression that a train had hit him. Bulger's killers became the youngest convicted murderers in the modern history of the United Kingdom. Another notable case in the UK occurred in 1968 in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, when 10-year-old

Mary Bell Mary Flora Bell (born 26 May 1957) is an English woman who, as a juvenile, murdered two preschool-age boys in Scotswood, an inner suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1968. Bell committed her first murder when she was 10 years old. In both instan ...

was convicted of

due to diminished responsibility in the deaths of toddlers Martin Brown and Brian Howe. She was released in 1980 at the age of 23. In 1998, 8-year-old Madelyn Clifton was killed by 14-year-old Josh Phillips.

Media coverage

In 1992, after the fatal shooting of 7-year-old Dantrell Davis as he left the Cabrini–Green

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

project for school, the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' put every child murder on the front page (generally no murders were front-page news). 62 child murders were reported that year. Multiple deaths in one incident, such as the 1999

Columbine High School massacre On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...

and the 2012

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and t ...

, tend to gather the most media attention but are statistically scarce.

Genocide and child soldiers

The military use of children refers to children being placed in harm's way in military actions, in order to protect a location or provide propaganda. This is sometimes referred to as child sacrifice, though not equivalent to the religious variety. It may also refer to the use of children as child soldiers or saboteurs.

Red Hand Day On Red Hand Day or the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers, February 12 each year since 2002, pleas are made to political leaders and events are staged around the world to draw attention to child soldiers: children under the age ...

on February 12 is an annual commemoration day to draw public attention to the practice of using children as soldiers in wars and armed conflicts.

"Muti killings"

Medicine murder Murder for body parts also known as medicine murder (not to be confused with "medical murder") refers to the killing of a human being in order to excise body parts to use as medicine or purposes in witchcraft. Medicine murder is viewed as the ob ...

(often referred to as ''muti killing'') is a practice of

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...

and

mutilation Mutilation or maiming (from the Latin: ''mutilus'') refers to severe damage to the body that has a ruinous effect on an individual's quality of life. It can also refer to alterations that render something inferior, ugly, dysfunctional, or imper ...

associated with traditional medicinal practices, such as

Muti Muthi is a traditional medicine practice in Southern Africa as far north as Lake Tanganyika. Name In South African English, the word ''muti'' is derived from the Zulu/Xhosa/ Northern Ndebele ''umuthi'', meaning 'tree', whose root is ''-thi''. ...

. Victims of muti killings are often children. Organs and/or body parts are usually taken while the child is still alive. An unknown child (referred to as ''

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

''), whose decapitated torso was found in the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 2002 is believed to have been the victim of a muti killing.

Murdered children of royalty

Theodor Hildebrandt - The Murder of the Sons of Edward IV - Google Art Project

Macrino, aureo per diadoumeniano cesare, 217-18, 01

Jacques-Victor Henry Christophe (no source)

Alexander IV of Macedon Alexander IV (Greek: ; 323/322– 309 BC), sometimes erroneously called Aegus in modern times, was the son of Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) and Princess Roxana of Bactria. Birth Alexander IV was the son of Alexander th ...

, 323–309 BC *Two sons of

Queen Dowager Zhao Zhao Ji (; Ji 姬 was an ancestral name of the Zhou royal family, which later evolved to generally mean "lady" in successive eras. But there are no more detailed mentions on her family at Zhao (which was a Boyi-descent state and shared origins ...

Qin Qin may refer to: Dynasties and states * Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China * Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC * Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...

and her lover

Lao Ai Lao Ai (; died 238 BCE) was an imposter eunuch and official of the State of Qin during the late Warring States period. Allegedly falsifying his castration in order to gain entry into the court of Qin, he became the favorite of Queen Dowager Zhao, t ...

, † 238 BC *

Hieronymus of Syracuse Hieronymus ( el, Ἱερώνυμος; 231–214 BC) was a tyrant of Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse. He succeeded his grandfather, Hiero II of Syracuse, Hiero II, in 215 BC. He was at this time only fifteen years old, and he ascended the throne at a c ...

, 231–214 BC *

Caesarion Ptolemy XV Caesar). (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος ; 23 June 47 BC – August 30 BC), nicknamed Caesarion (, "Little Caesar"), was the last pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt, reigning with his mother Cleopatra from 2 September 44 BC until her de ...

, June 23, 47 BC – August 23, 30 BC *

Julia Drusilla Julia Drusilla (16 September AD 16 – 10 June AD 38) was a member of the Roman imperial family, the second daughter and fifth child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder to survive infancy. She was the favorite sister of Emperor Caligula, wh ...

, summer of AD 39 – 24 January 41 * Diadumenian, Roman co-emperor (May–June 218), September 14, 208 – June 218 * Licinius II, Roman co-emperor (317-324), c. 315 – c. 326 *Gisald (son of

Sigismund of Burgundy Sigismund ( la, Sigismundus; died 524 AD) was King of the Burgundians from 516 until his death. He was the son of king Gundobad and Caretene. He succeeded his father in 516. Sigismund and his brother Godomar were defeated in battle by Clovis' ...

), † 1 May 524 *Gondebaud (son of

), † 1 May 524 *Théodebald (son of

Chlodomer Chlodomer, also spelled Clodomir or Clodomer (c. 495 - 524) was the second of the four sons of Clovis I, King of the Franks. On the death of his father, in 511, he divided the kingdom of the Franks with his three brothers: Theuderic I, Childeber ...

), c. 521-531 *Gunthaire (son of