When a Child Kills: Abused Children Who Kill Their Parents

A lawyer who specializes in defending children explains why some children are driven to kill their parents and offers solutions to the abuses that lead to such tragedies

In an impressive, well-documented study of juvenile crime and parental sadism, L.A. attorney Mones, writing with sensitivity, eloquently defends brutalized teenage parricides. He argues that such youngsters, having blocked off feelings in order to survive years of parental sexual or other physical and mental abuse, and without protection from the community or the justice system, reach a breaking point that triggers their killing of one or both parents--son-father patricide being the most common. Mones further charges that society does not extend to these teenagers the compassion and aid accorded to battered wives who return violence with violence. He advocates the establishment of more shelters for abused youths and enactment of laws similar to those in Sweden against physical punishment of children.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From an attorney who specializes in defending children who kill parents, case studies that show how years of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse--sometimes all three--always provide the motive for these crimes. It is nearly a decade since the national conscience was pricked by commission reports and well-publicized revelations on the subject of child abuse. Among the saddest aspects of the eight tragic stories related here is that so many relatives, friends, neighbors, teachers, social workers, judges, and jurors still turn blind eyes to evidence of abuse. Then a child dies, or is driven to murder. It is Mones's job, as a lawyer and an expert on juvenile parricide, to help convince a horrified court and community that the murder of an abusive parent is defensible, if not justifiable. The children are not always lovable, the parents are not always archvillains. But the moving stories of Tim, Patty, Steve, Cindy and others who shot mother or father or both show they knew no other way out. Painfully graphic, the details of incest and violence are presented here as they were laid out for the juries. Baldly evident are the flaws in a legal system that protects a parent's absolute authority over a child, virtually no matter what. Informed by court records and extensive personal interviews, a welcome contribution to the growing literature on child abuse. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Not since the highly publicized 60 Minutes interview of Richard Jahnke, who at age 16 killed his father in their Wyoming home, and Alan Prendergast's ensuing book The Poison Tree ( LJ 6/1/86) have we glimpsed the stark reality of parricide. Although very little has been written on the subject, Mones is the leading authority in defending these cases. He humanely conveys the plight of children caught in the web of child abuse and/or neglect. With compassionate insight, he documents the cases of eight children and presents interviews with 12 more, chronicling the years of abuse that led to their desperate actions. Mones's study is more involving than Muriel Gardiner's Deadly Innocents: Portraits of Children Who Kill ( LJ 7/76). In an informative but casual writing style, he presents a strong case for compassion toward those trapped in a justice system unwilling or unable to cope with family violence. Highly recommended.
- Lisa Wise, Steele Memorial Lib., Elmira, N.Y.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.