Filicide

On average, according to FBI statistics, 450 children are murdered by their parents each year in the United States.

[3] An in-depth longitudinal study of 297 cases convicted of filicide and 45 of filicide-suicide in the United Kingdom between 1997 and 2006 showed that 37% of the perpetrators had a recorded mental illness at the time.

However – similar to findings in a large Danish study – the majority had not had contact with mental health services prior to the murders, and few had received treatment.

Fathers were more likely to have been convicted of violent offences and have a history of substance misuse, and were more likely to kill multiple victims.

Research suggests that children murdered by their parents were physically abused by them prior to their death.