Homicides committed by youth assailants: a retrospective study.
The pediatric population has received considerable attention in the forensic community; the youth assailant of homicide, however, is understudied. The authors retrospectively reviewed all cases referred to the Forensic Pathology Section of the Medical University of South Carolina between January 1991 and May 2006. Cases included in the study were homicides in which 1 or more assailants were 19 years of age or younger. The cases were examined as to the cause and manner of death, victim age, gender, race, incident location, weapon used, assailant-victim relationship, assailant age, gender, race, motive, and postmortem toxicology results. Assailant information was obtained from forensic records at Medical University of South Carolina, police department records, and online search engines of South Carolina State newspaper archives confirmed by law enforcement reports. The youth assailants were predominantly black men, 15 to 19 years of age (range, 4-19 years). Most victims were black male acquaintances, and the motive was most often an argument. The most common cause of death was cerebral laceration because of a gunshot wound. The incident occurred in the home in 41% of cases, followed by the street in 31%. Victim toxicology was frequently positive for cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol.
Adeagbo
Bamidele A
BA
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, USA.
Clark
Colin
C
Collins
Kim A
KA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D020197:Head Injuries, Penetrating; D006708:Homicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013022:South Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality