This week, a woman pleaded guilty in court to shooting her 6-month-old granddaughter in the face. A local sheriff called the offense one of the most “disgusting” criminal acts he’s seen.
New data reveals that this type of crime might be more common than we realize.
A study recently published in the Injury Epidemiology journal found that infants and toddlers who are killed most often die at the hands of family members. In their review of data from 1976 through 2020, researchers found that 67.8% infant and toddlers up to age 4 were committed by family members.
Throughout the decades covered in the study, this percentage remained relatively stable.
Most of these homicides were also carried out by men (65.3%) and individuals age 18 or older (93.4%), and the percentage of male killers of infants and toddlers increased from 61.1% in 1976-1980. In fact, the study said “three perpetrator profiles account for over 80% of all infant and toddler homicide victimizations: male family members 18 years and older (36.5%), female family members 18 years and older (26.9%), and male acquaintances 18 years and older (20.9%).”
One of the most well-known recent cases of a man killing his young family members is the Watts family murder. In 2020, Netflix released “American Murder: The Family Next Door” documentary about Watts’ murder of his 34-year-old wife, his 4-year-old daughter and his 3-year-old daughter in 2018, per CBS News.
Female infant and toddler victims were slightly more likely to be killed by family members (69.3% versus 66.8%) and white children were slightly more likely to be killed by family members than Black children (69.1% versus 65.7%).
While more than half of homicides of children age 5 to 12 were committed by family (55.5%), the percentage dropped more than 10 points for the older age group. Over time, this percentage has increased. Homicides committed by men against this age group were 10% higher than the infant and toddler group (77% versus 65.3%).
This percentage climbs even higher for the adolescent age group. According to the study, 95.2% of adolescent homicides are perpetrated by men. In this age group, the percentage of homicides committed by family drops steeply to just 7.3%.
“Compared to female adolescent victims, male adolescent victims are more often killed by acquaintances (62.7% versus 44.6%) and strangers (29.4% versus 18.6%),” said the study. “Just 1.5% of male adolescent victims were killed by intimate partners compared to one quarter (25.3%) of female adolescent victims.”
Researchers also addressed the prevalence of firearms in homicides. From 1976 through 2020, one in 10 infant and toddler homicides were perpetrated with a firearm. This percentage increased from 9.4% in 2006 through 2010 to 14.8% in 2016 through 2020, with the proportion of firearm involved Black infant and toddler victimizations nearly doubling from 10.9% in 2006-2010 to 20.8% in 2016-2020, while the percentage of firearm-related homicides of white children stayed around 10%.
Fortunately, in the case of the grandmother who pleaded guilty to shooting an infant, the baby survived. Mia Desiree Harris, 43, is expected to be sentenced Oct. 29. She faces up to 15 years in prison.
Overall, homicide is a leading cause of death among people 19 and younger in the U.S., according to Texas A&M. Homicide rates for this population have been increasing every year since 2013 and there was a sharp increase during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on the study findings, researchers said policy interventions that improve family stability and well-being may be most effective at preventing infant, toddler, and child homicides. Examples of possible interventions include paid family leave, affordable childcare, programs that target corporal punishment and abuse, educational programs that promote positive parenting practices and programs that position daycare and school staff to respond to maltreatment.
Last month, Audacy reported on the arrest of grandparents regarding the death of their 6-year-old granddaughter in Reading, Pa. According to the Berks County District Attorney’s Office, she was locked in a room for days at high temperatures and forced to wear a diaper before she died.
“Future research should continue to examine the contextual and situational circumstances that precipitate infant and child killings, including the motives for these killings,” said the study.
Dr. Hannah Rochford an assistant professor with the Texas A&M University School of Public Health, and two colleagues from the University of Iowa, conducted the study. She hopes it will provide more understanding of homicide trends to inform further research and policies.
“The more national-level information we have about these perpetrators, the better we can develop comprehensive, evidence-based public health policies and prevention strategies,” Rochford said.