Every parent thinks of their child as pure and innocent, always needing our protection from a world that can be sinister. It is hard to imagine a child or teenager killing another human being. Many of the children who kill are usually from an environment of abuse or neglect, but many are also products of a loving home. What makes a child kill?
Let's look at Joshua Phillips.-
In 1998, 8 year old Maddie Clifton was reported missing in Jacksonville, Florida. The mother of her 14 year old neighbor, Joshua Phillips, discovered her body hidden inside the pedestal of her son's waterbed, she then called the police. After his arrest, Josh claimed her death was an accident. Josh claims he panicked after accidently hitting Maddie with a baseball bat while they were playing. Maddie screamed and Joshua continued to strangle, bludgeon and stab her 11 times. He was charged with first degree murder and sentenced to life in jail, with no chance of release. He did not receive the death penalty because he was under 16 years old at the time. I don't know how I feel about that sentence. I know he was old enough to know better, but he was only 14 years old at the time and I'm not sure I agree with the no chance of release. He did take a life and should serve a long time in jail but at the same time he was only a child.
Next I wanna talk about Mary Bell. In May of 1968, the day before Mary turned 11, she strangled a 4 year old boy named Martin Brown in an abandoned house. A short time later, she and a 13 year old friend broke into an orphanage and smashed the place up. They left notes that claimed responsibility for Martin Brown's murder, however, the police thought it was a prank. In July, the pair kidnapped and murdered 3 year old Brian Howe and left his body on a nearby wasteland, but not before Mary mutilated him and carved an "M" into his stomach. Mary was only convicted with two counts of manslaughter because of her young age and psychiatric evaluation. She was held until she turned 23 and then set free, which she remains to this day.....Creepy
Eric Smith, a 13 year old red headed freckled little boy, who often rode around town on his bike by himself, brutally murdered 4 year old Derrick Robie. When little Derrick was found brutally murdered no one suspected that another child could have done something so horrible. Derrick's body was found in a small patch of woods not far from his home and the park where he'd been going that day. He had been lured from the sidewalk where he was then strangled and hit in the head with several large rocks. Even worse than that, it appeared that whoever murdered him had fun playing games with his dead body. After his body had been found, police realized that whoever killed the boy had moved his shoes around, covered him with Kool-Aid and even sodomized him with a stick. When police spoke with Eric he did not seem bothered by Derrick's murder, he almost seemed happy about it. He looked upbeat, as if he was enjoying the attention of the police. Eric was convicted of second degree murder and is still incarcerated to this day.
And finally I wanna talk about America's youngest serial killer, 12 year old Jesse Pomeroy. Jesse would attack and beat young boys with his fist and a belt, and in two of the attacks, a knife. In 1872, his family moved to South Boston. Jesse continued the attacks and was finally arrested. He was found guilty and sentenced to the State Reform School for Boys. In February 1874 at the age of 14, Jesse was paroled back to his mother. In March a 10 year old girl named Katie Curran went missing. On April 22nd, 1874 the multilated body of four year old Horace Millen was found on the marsh in Dorchester Bay. Immediately the police sought out Jesse, despite lacking evidence implicating him in the crime. The body of Katie Curran was found later, in the basement of Jesse's mother's dress shop. Jesse was arrested and convicted and found guilty of murder on December 10th, 1874. He was sentenced to death by hanging, which was later commuted to life to be served in solitary confinement in 1876, then later commuted to just life imprisonment in 1917. He died on September 29th, 1932 at the age of 72.