Note: Varies by jurisdiction Note: Varies by jurisdiction Parricide is the deliberate killing of one's own father and mother, spouse (husband or wife), children, and/or close relatives.
However, the term is sometimes used more generally to refer to the intentional killing of a near relative.
Youthful parricide offenders who are younger than the age of majority (e.g., 18-year-olds in the United States & United Kingdom of Great Britain) may be prosecuted under less stringent laws which are designed to take their special needs and development into account, but these laws are usually waived and as a result, most youthful parricide offenders are transferred into the Adult Judicial System.
Current research conducted by the Parricide Prevention Institute indicates the top five motives causing a child (aged 8–24 years old) to commit parricide are:[6] In the sixth-century AD collection of earlier juristical sayings, the Digest, a precise enumeration of the victims' possible relations to the parricide is given by the 3rd century AD lawyer Modestinus: By the lex Pompeia on parricides it is laid down that if anyone kills his father, his mother, his grandfather, his grandmother, his brother, his sister, first cousin on his father's side, first cousin on his mother's side, paternal or maternal uncle, paternal (or maternal) aunt, first cousin (male or female) by mother's sister, wife, husband, father-in-law, son-in-law, mother-in-law, (daughter-in-law), stepfather, stepson, stepdaughter, patron, or patroness, or with malicious intent brings this about, shall be liable to the same penalty as that of the lex Cornelia on murderers.
And a mother who kills her son or daughter suffers the penalty of the same statute, as does a grandfather who kills a grandson; and in addition, a person who buys poison to give to his father, even though he is unable to administer it.