Filicide – is a horrifying crime that, sadly, happens more often than we’d like to think; a crime that often shocks and horrifies the public when a parent kills their child.

In fact, there is no greater tragedy or act of unimaginable desperation and despair. 

 Furthermore, in the United States, filicide – the murder of a child by a parent – occurs an average of 500 times per year.

And while the motivations for such a heinous act are often complex and nuanced, the outcome is always heartbreaking. 

The loss of innocence and trust for the child. For the parent, it descends into a hellish abyss of guilt, regret, or nothing. 

In this blog post, I’ll explore the motivations behind filicide.

A Brief Introduction Who Commits Filicide? 

While this heinous act can be motivated by many factors, ranging from greed to mental illness, one thing is always clear: The child was innocent, and their death was preventable. 

That said, in the United States, filicide is the leading cause of death for children 1-5 years old. 

To this end, an estimated 1,500 children are killed by their parents yearly.

While it’s a crime that cuts across all demographics, some common risk factors may contribute to a parent becoming capable of murder. 

Why do parents kill their children?

While it’s impossible to know exactly why a parent would kill their child, there are some possible explanations. 

Filicide is not an uncommon calamity; a study supported by the National Institute of Health found that about 15% of homicide arrests over 32 years were filicidal.

However, research studies have identified five motivations of adults who murder children.

•  The parent kills the child because they may perceive it to be in the child’s best interest. It may be reality-based (e.g., the child suffers from a terminal illness.
• The parent kills the child based on ideas, not based on reality. For example, the parent believes the devil has possessed the child.
• Unwanted child: The parent kills the child they consider a hindrance.
• Accidental: The child’s death is an unintentional outcome of parental physical abuse.
• Spousal revenge: The parent kills the child to get revenge on the spouse or partner.

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