Child Murder: Recent Cases and Stories of Child Murders - Page 1

Multiple People Now 'on the
Radar' in JonBenet Case

Multiple People Now 'on the Radar' in JonBenet Case

Cops in Colorado say they're looking into 'new persons of interest' in 1996 murder of 6-year-old

(Newser) - It's been 27 years since 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found murdered over the Christmas holiday in her Colorado home, with most of the leads on who killed her having gone cold over time. Now, however, Boulder police suggest they may be making advances on that front. "There are...

Boy, 12, 'Brutally Killed
and Placed in a Trash Can'

Sep 1, 2023 8:51 AM CDT

Boy, 12, 'Brutally Killed and Placed in a Trash Can'

Hezekiah Bernard of Philadelphia was shot in the head around Aug. 22

(Newser) - A body found in a dumpster in West Philadelphia last week is a 12-year-old boy who was shot in the head and wrapped in plastic. Police identified him Thursday as Hezekiah "Hezzy" Bernard, a homicide victim who'd been under the care of the Department of Human Services, per...

New Zealand Mom Guilty of
Murdering 3 Young Daughters

Aug 16, 2023 10:45 AM CDT

New Zealand Mom Guilty of Murdering 3 Young Daughters

Lauren Dickason said her postpartum-induced mental illness led her to kill her kids

(Newser) - A New Zealand jury on Wednesday found a mother guilty of murdering her three young daughters after rejecting her defense that she was so mentally ill at the time she couldn't be held responsible. Lauren Dickason, 42, had earlier admitted killing her 2-year-old twin daughters, Maya and Karla, and...

Cops: For Years, Girl's Killer
Acted Like 'Friend' of the Family

Jul 25, 2023 9:15 AM CDT

Cops: For Years, Girl's Killer Acted Like 'Friend' of the Family

Former pastor David Zandstra charged with 1975 killing of another pastor's daughter

(Newser) - A former Pennsylvania pastor who reported the disappearance of a neighboring pastor's daughter when she failed to turn up at summer Bible camp in 1975 has admitted to murdering the girl who refused to remove her clothing for him. Eight-year-old Gretchen Harrington had set out from her home on...

Prosecutors: Delphi Suspect
Told Wife He Killed Girls

Jun 29, 2023 12:30 AM CDT

Prosecutors: Delphi Suspect Told Wife He Killed Girls

Newly unsealed documents also reveal girls were killed with a 'sharp object'

(Newser) - Newly unsealed court documents in the 2017 murders of two girls in Delphi, Indiana, reveal that, according to prosecutors, the suspect charged with the murders has confessed multiple times to killing Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14. Prosecutors say that during an April 2023 phone call with his wife...

Cops: Mom Went on Vacation and Left Toddler Home Alone, Returned to Find Her Dead

Cops: Mom Left
16-Month-Old
Alone for 10 Days

Jun 27, 2023 3:30 AM CDT

Cops: Mom Left 16-Month-Old Alone for 10 Days

Cleveland 31-year-old has been charged with girl's murder upon return from vacation

(Newser) - Ohio authorities say a Cleveland mother went on vacation for 10 days and left her 16-month-old daughter home alone that entire time—and that the mother arrived home to find the toddler dead. Kristel Candelario, 31, called 911 upon returning from her trip to Detroit and Puerto Rico and finding...

Cops: She Was Drowning
2nd Child When 3rd Intervened

May 23, 2023 10:15 AM CDT

Cops: She Was Drowning 2nd Child When 3rd Intervened

SC's Jamie Bradley-Brun charged with murder of 6-year-old, attempted murder of 8-year-old

(Newser) - A 16-year-old girl who awoke to the sound of her 8-year-old sister screaming managed to save the sibling from an attempted drowning by her own mother, according to South Carolina police. Sadly, another sister, 6-year-old Mackaya Bradley-Brun, could not be saved. She's presumed to have drowned. Police have arrested...

Defense: Gannon Stauch's
Stepmom Had 'Psychotic Crack'

Apr 6, 2023 1:30 AM CDT

Defense: Gannon Stauch's Stepmom Had 'Psychotic Crack'

Letecia Stauch allegedly told her now ex-husband, 'I don't kill people'

(Newser) - The father of an 11-year-old Colorado boy missing for nearly three weeks, called his then-wife and wished her a happy Valentine’s Day. During the February 2020 call, Letecia Stauch repeatedly told her husband she wanted immunity before she would help. At one point, she blurted out, “I don’...

37 Years Later, Man Confesses
to Killing Boy Over Stolen Bike

Feb 17, 2023 8:33 AM CST

37 Years Later, Man Confesses to Killing Boy Over Stolen Bike

David Adams charged with 2nd-degree murder in 1985 killing of 13-year-old Jeremiah Watkins

(Newser) - For nearly all of her life, Jamie Cole wondered what had caused someone to kill her big brother. She was only a year old in 1985 when 13-year-old Jeremiah "Jerry" Watkins' body was found beaten and stabbed in a shallow grave near railroad tracks in Terra Alta, West Virginia....

Surviving Child of
Massachusetts Tragedy Dies

Jan 28, 2023 7:45 AM CST

Surviving Child of Massachusetts Tragedy Dies

Duxbury infant succumbs to injuries days after 2 older siblings died, allegedly at hands of mother

(Newser) - Prosecutors have said they plan to file murder charges against a Massachusetts mother in the deaths of her two young children on Tuesday, after which she apparently tried to take her own life. Now, those charges may be upgraded further: The Plymouth County District Attorney's Office says that the...

Child Homicide Stats
Are Staggering

NEW STUDY

Dec 20, 2022 8:08 AM CST

Child Homicide Stats Are Staggering

Child murder rate rose 28% in 2020, with Black children disproportionately affected

(Newser) - Homicide is now "the leading cause of death among American children, making the United States an outlier among similarly developed nations," the New York Times reports. Homicides of children were up 28% in the first year of the pandemic as 2,058 children aged 17 and under were...

Arrest Made in Case of Infant
Found Floating in Ocean

Dec 16, 2022 9:01 AM CST

Arrest Made in Case of Infant Found Floating in Ocean

Mother will face murder charge in Florida's 'Baby June' case

(Newser) - The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office in Florida says an arrest has been made in the "Baby June" case, more than four years after an off-duty firefighter found the body of a baby girl floating in the ocean at Boynton Beach Inlet. The sheriff's office announced Thursday...

New Zealand Woman Enters
Plea in 'Suitcase Murders'

Dec 14, 2022 8:17 AM CST

New Zealand Woman Enters Plea in 'Suitcase Murders'

Bodies of 2 children were discovered in suitcases purchased in online auction

(Newser) - A lawyer in Australia submitted two pleas of not guilty in the Auckland High Court on behalf of his client, a 42-year-old woman accused of murdering her two young children. Per CNN , the suspect was not present for the hearing, but she is in custody, capping an investigation that started...

He Got Custody of His Young
Daughter, Then Fatally Shot Her

Dec 9, 2022 9:53 AM CST

He Got Custody of His Young Daughter, Then Fatally Shot Her

Angel Ahearn's grandmother is now slamming Tennessee's child services

(Newser) - Six years ago, Angelique Ahearn's mother was killed in a Halloween car crash in Tennessee, and since the accident, her maternal grandmother, Monica Dunning, had fought for custody of the girl. Now Dunning is furious at the state's Department of Children's Services after Angel's father, who...

Warrant: FedEx Driver
Panicked After Hitting Girl

Dec 8, 2022 9:00 PM CST

Warrant: FedEx Driver Panicked After Hitting Girl

The delivery was a Christmas gift for Athena Strand, mother says

(Newser) - A delivery driver charged in the slaying of a 7-year-old Texas girl told investigators that she wasn't seriously hurt when he struck her accidentally with his van, but that he panicked and killed her, according to an arrest warrant. Tanner Lynn Horner said that he put Athena Strand in...

Murdered 'Boy in the Box'
ID'd 65 Years Later

Dec 8, 2022 11:44 AM CST

Murdered 'Boy in the Box' ID'd 65 Years Later

Philadelphia cops hope for 'avalanche of tips' in cold case murder of Joseph Augustus Zarelli

(Newser) - For 65 years, Philadelphia police have worked to identify a boy found dead—beaten and malnourished—inside a cardboard box left in a wooded area in the northeastern part of the city on Feb. 25, 1957. Thanking the many people who've worked on the investigation over the decades, Philadelphia...

She Vanished
From Her Home.
A FedEx Driver Has
Been Arrested

Dec 3, 2022 7:00 AM CST

She Vanished From Her Home. A FedEx Driver Has Been Arrested

Tanner Lynn Horner is accused of abducting Athena Strand, 7, from her Texas home, killing her

(Newser) - After an intense search for a missing girl involving the FBI, the US Marshals Service, the Texas Rangers Division, and the state's Department of Family and Protective Services, grim news out of North Texas. At a Friday night press conference , Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin announced that the body...

Mom Accused in
Deaths of Kids Found
in Suitcases Extradited

UPDATED

Nov 29, 2022 12:51 AM CST

Mom Accused in Deaths of Kids Found in Suitcases Extradited

Unnamed woman taken from South Korea to New Zealand

(Newser) - The 42-year-old woman accused of murdering her children and hiding their remains inside suitcases that were later purchased at auction has been extradited from South Korea to New Zealand. The unnamed woman arrived in Auckland Tuesday, will spend the night in jail, and will appear in court Wednesday to face...

Prosecutor Floats Idea of
Additional Delphi Suspects

Nov 23, 2022 1:30 AM CST

Prosecutor Floats Idea of Additional Delphi Suspects

Indiana judge said Tuesday that she will decide soon whether to unseal court records

(Newser) - An Indiana judge said Tuesday that she will decide soon whether to unseal court records that led to a man’s arrest in the 2017 killings of two teenage girls, while a prosecutor urged the court to keep the documents sealed because others could be involved in the case. Special...

Casey Anthony:
'I Lied, but No
One Asked Why'

Nov 15, 2022 2:36 PM CST

Casey Anthony: 'I Lied, but No One Asked Why'

In upcoming docuseries seen by 'People,' Anthony hints that her father may have killed her toddler

(Newser) - During her 2011 murder trial, Casey Anthony accused her father of covering up what she had originally said was the accidental drowning death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. Now, Anthony is "going further" than that, per TMZ . Her newest allegations against her dad come via a new docuseries , Casey ...

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