Parents who kill their children

Mylee Billingham's father charged with her murder 

An eight-year-old girl has murdered late evening February.

Mylee Billingham discovered with multiple stab wounds at her home in Brownhills, Wolverhampton.

Police arrived at the scene at 9,15pm after a call from a concerned neighbour, the young girl had already suffered serious injuries.

She was rushed to the hospital where she died shortly after. Bill Billingham, 54, was charged with the murder of his daughter.

Bill had also been rushed to hospital with stab wounds in his stomach, although he was in a critical condition he is now stable.  

Her father was remanded in custody and charged with her murder, he will reappear in Wolverhampton Crown Court in May after not showing up to first hearing.

Tracy, mother of Mylee set up a gofundme to money for her "bright and beautiful" young girl. 

The funeral took place 24 April 2018, where hundreds gathered to mourn. 

Mylee is just one of the hundreds of children killed every year. There have been reports of children who have been killed by their family members as far afield as Michigan, West Midlands, North Carolina and more.  

Jasmine Forrester's uncle charged with her murder after she suffered fatal head injuries in there Wolverhampton home. She is the second victim this year. Parents killing children may happen more often than you think.

STUDIES OF PARENTS WHO KILL THEIR CHILDREN

The reports of family members killing children has become more noticeable in England and Wales. Each year in England and Wales, an average of 56 children are victims of homicide.

Reports from 2013 claim that 80% of perpetrators are biological parents. At the present parents killing children is more common than people imagine.

Figures from England and Wales suggest that a family member is a primary suspect in two-thirds of all cases involving the death of a child at the hands of another (Office for National Statistics: ONS, 2013).

There have been questions on who is convicted of these murders, the two case studies of West Midlands reflect male authority taking advantage. According to studies "Mothers, fathers and step-parents have been reported the most likely offenders of intra-familial child death.

“From the data mothers and father's child deaths occurrence is approximately equal but the majority have found fathers then step-fathers as the most common offenders, mirroring typical gendered homicide patterns.

“While Mothers were seen as unnatural for killing their children and were stigmatised more, mainly due to the idea of mothers being maternal."

“Mothers were more likely than fathers to have a history of mental disorder (66% v 27%) and symptoms at the time of the offence (53% v 23%), most often affective disorder. (background image)”

There were some cases where parents had killed themselves along with children, this is known “family annihilators”. The origin of these killings was from drug addiction and alcohol abuse. Fathers were most likely to commit these types of crimes because of guilt. The story of Camara, a father who hanged himself shortly after killing his six-year-old daughter and 18 month-old sons.

Mike Berry, a Psychology Research Assistant stated “

“Other cases involved(ing) parents killing their children, then themselves equated to an average of four parental homicides followed by suicides a year over the 9-year study.

“Females were more likely to be victims of male killers.

Children are equally likely to be killed by their mother or father; however, men commit other types of homicide more frequently than females.”

“6144 people were convicted of homicide, 297 were filicides, and 45 cases were filicide-suicides. 195 (66%) perpetrators were fathers."

The Mirrors article stated, “The root of many murders of children by their mums and dads is desperation - an isolated parent feeling they have no way out but to take the youngsters away from the problems.”

Research indicates that children face different risk levels at varying ages, defined by the developmental stages of childhood, children under five have been found to have an elevated risk. There have been reports by NSPCC that “3500 children die from maltreatment every year. Child deaths from maltreatment in the UK were reported as 0.9 per 100,000, approximately 2 children a week.”

A study shows that stabbings and beatings are common causes of death in children of this age (6-12) and are found in cases of familicide were a male offender, kills one or more children, their partner or ex-partner and often than themselves.

“17% of mothers had schizophrenia or other delusional disorders. Overall 8% had schizophrenia. 37% were mentally ill at the time of the offence. 20% had previously been in contact with mental health services, 12% within a year of the offence.” 

The National Policing Homicide Working Group stated further causes of deaths of young children were asphyxiation, A mother of a two-year-old girl, suffocated her daughter and called 999 as cover up for the murder. There was also shaken-baby syndrome leading to head injuries or neglect. The number of deaths decreased with age 13-17 as there is less risk of victimisation. Familicide is often triggered by stressors unrelated to the child, and more likely associated with financial stress and the breakdown of an offender's relationship. Within this group are most at-risk of serious violent assaults including those involving a weapon. Deaths are often caused alongside sexual assaults and parental mental health issues.

Police are now working on better initiatives by trying to identify the patterns and trends earlier to report to Local Children Boards (LSCB). According to the LSCB to "maintaining a rapid response protocol with all agencies, consistent with the Kennedy principles and current investigative practice from the Association of Chief Police Officers" will enable them to work towards prevention.

There hope for the near future is to work alongside local and national initiatives to identify lessons for prevention of child deaths.