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Children Who Kill: Profiles of Pre-Teen and Teenage Killers

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There are few things as disturbing as accounts of children committing murder. Whenever one of these cases appears in the news, it touches a nerve in us all, and those of us who are parents can't help wondering "How could this have happened? Could my child be capable of something so hideous, or was the child who committed this crime some sort of unexplainable abberation?" "Children Who Kill" by Carol Anne Davis attempts to answer these questions, and it is a fascinating glimpse into the pathology of child murderers and a "must-read" for any true crime aficionado. However, having said that, I must mention that the writing style is so amateurish that, at times, I had trouble believing that I was reading the work of a published author. The book reads very much like a middle school research paper, sometimes to the point of being distracting. I took into consideration the fact that the author is British and I am an American, which would explain why some of the phrasing seemed odd to me, but do British schools not teach the use of commas or compound sentences? Fortunately for Ms. Davis, the subject matter is so compelling that one keeps reading despite the distractions. If you are a person who finds true crime fascinating, you will enjoy this book, but if poor writing bugs you, this book will drive you crazy.

Carole Anne has the dignity and the courage to explore chilling cases of children who murdered others.
Every aspect of these children's life is explore in order to better understand the connection between child abuse and murder.
As a criminologist, I think that this book lacks two important things. First, it does not explain why a lot of children who suffered abuse didn't turn to be murderers. Second,a summary that connects between theory and the cases explored in the book, would add a better understanding of the cases.
Prof, Arnon Edelstein, Criminologist

A fascinating background into a variety of high profile cases where children have resorted to murder; from 12 year old Jesse Pomeroy in America in the late nineteenth century to the 10 year olds who killed Jamie Bulger in Liverpool in 1993. Many people just categorise this type of crime as 'evil' and understandably find it hard to come to terms with children who go so far as to kill. However Davis manages to write a factual account of events and leaves judgement to the reader. As well as case studies she includes some very interesting statistics.

This book offers some of the sad stories of kids who have committed horrible crimes. Among factual events in this book, there are still many things said that are false and exaggerated.
In the crime involving Wendy Gardner and James Evans, it paints Wendy out to be a manipulative monster, and makes James out to be a victim. Unfortunately the author gives Wendy the blame for James's actions. But Wendy was abused by her grandmother, and James Evans was a ticking time bomb who had later told Wendy he would have ended up killing someone during his life, even if it hadn't been Betty Gardner. The author fails to mention how James had tortured cats and bashed in his counselor's car with a baseball bat and controlled Wendy. Betty had said that James was controlling Wendy. James manipulated Wendy into staying with him and controlled her with fear.
Wendy Gardner thought she loved James at a time when she was experiencing strong teenage feelings, but it wasn't true love - nor did she plot a murder to run off with him. Quite the contrary - she had been trying to end the doomed relationship with James for some time. Each time Wendy attempted to leave him, Evans threatened and manipulated her into staying. Evans was obsessed with proving himself worthy of Wendy's love, hoping she'd feel obligated to stay with him. Wendy had told James she didn't know what love was. This is relevent because it supports the fact that Wendy had no actual plans to run off with James. He knew Wendy's grandmother was abusive, and Wendy had made the mistake of saying she wished her grandmother was dead. Wendy did not seriously mean it - she simply wanted the abuse to stop, even if Evans would hit Betty. Evans obsessed over being with Wendy, but his actions backfired that night. Wendy could not believe James Evans had killed her grandmother - not even now. This shows just how those teenagers didn't know each other.
The kinds of things Wendy wrote in her journals were actually typical things that lots of abused kids go through. The hormone rushes, family troubles and the manipulation of the wrong boyfriend. It seems wrong that her journals were used to build a case against her.
Wendy Gardner and James Evans were not stupid kids, but neither was a genius, nor did Wendy conspire with James or make him kill anyone. He had enough brains to know what he was doing, he didn't have to kill someone, and he knew right from wrong. Nobody forced James Evans against his will to strangle Betty Gardner, and he ordered Wendy to assist him after he killed Ms. Gardner, refusing to let Wendy from his sight. James, in fact, had been the bossy one in that relationship, not Wendy. The author claims that a "layperson" would call James a sociopath. But the truth is, at least one professional psychiatrist who spoke with James diagnosed James as a sociopath, a psychopath. The psychiatrist added that James was different from Wendy - James would kill again if given a chance, and he could not be re-trained to enter society. Indeed, James had pushed Wendy into having sex with him after he killed Betty. It didn't bother James to have sex with Betty's dead body just feet away from him, and he got a kick out of taunting Wendy about it. True markings of a psychopath. After the murder, Wendy did as James said out of fear. He hoped maybe if he got Betty out of the way, Betty's abuse would stop and Wendy should be obligated to him. But fate ended his plans forever.
Wendy tried taking the blame for what James Evans did in the hopes of sparing them a horrible punishment. She had implicated herself in her police statement, knowing full well that she did not force James Evans to commit murder, AND he had no remorse about it. By the time Wendy had told the truth about how she didn't push him into it, nobody believed Wendy, and she was labeled as a "mastermind." Regardless, Evans was no pawn and he took a life, justifying in his own mind his own reasons, without any remorse. The statements Evans gave police and lawyers was that Wendy had manipulated him into killing her grandmother. How convenient for him to leave ot the details of how HE forced Wendy to help him after the murder and told her she'd never be rid of him. He never told police how HE ran the show, refusing to let Wendy out of his sight. His psychiatrist had deemed James a sociopath who would kill again given the chance. James was known for torturing and abusing animals and he had bashed in someone's car with a baseball bat. My family had lived near Wendy and they knew Betty was abusive to Wendy. They also knew Wendy and James were not some couple like Tristan and Isolde. Nobody was shocked that James Evans had ended up killing someone. He was a phony tough guy who was quick to lash out, but didn't mess with someone big or tough who'd actually fight back. Neighbors were surprised that Wendy had gotten mixed up with James Evans at all. Some people knew damned well Betty had been abusive to Wendy. In reality, the family of James Evans had all downplayed how violent they knew he really is. They twisted the story about his bullying and they downplayed his violent behavior and put the blame on Wendy.
Wendy has served her time and she is getting her life together and moved on from the past. She's in a committed relationship, employed and spending time with family. She is not the person this book describes, nor is James Evans. If you had removed both Wendy and James from their abusive environments, Wendy would have improved, but James would not. That is the sentiment of psychiatrists, and I believe they'd know best.
James Evans remains in prison as of this entry, and the parole board will decide if and when he is ready to be released. Although the author has some of the information correct, some things are simply inaccurate and misleading. Please understand that authors don't care about the people they write about. The media and Wendy's own mistake of implicating herself in her initial police statement is the only reasons Wendy Gardner was pegged as a mastermind, manipulative young killer.

I have to say that this book has been on my wishlist and was fortunate enough to pick up a copy of it. Carol Ann Davis has studied crime intensely in her native country of the United Kingdom. She has also allowed the readers to learn an encyclopedic style of children who kill beginning with Jesse Pomeroy. She writes a little about his homelife and a lot about his sexual crimes leading to horrific murders. As with other cases, she makes a point that children who abuse small animals are more likely to kill than those who don't. The characteristics of children who kill can range from being ostracized, traumatized even by their peers, as well abuse at home and at school. For those of us who still carry the psychological scars of being bullied by our peers. We may never outgrow them because you can't remove such emotional scars of being different or feeling inferior. For those of us, we still feel somewhat like outsiders in our community to this day.
Now, I'm not making any excuses for the children who become murderous psychopaths like Jesse Pomeroy. There are other children's cases in this book that feature matricide and patricide as cases against an abusive or strict parent.
Then there are the other cases of children who go on needless shooting rampages at their schools. The case studies of children who murder in this book are humanized to understand their inflictions as well as the cause. In order to understand a disease, we must understand how it works before we can cure it. This disease of murderous children has to be understood first before we can proceed in understanding how to prevent it.
Now, Davis has written another case about the child arsonist and serial killer who was abandoned by his mother, abused at school and in his home environments. and finally found peace of all places in a mental hospital where he was better treated than anywhere else in his life.
While Davis writes to understand, readers should understand that this book is about child killers and often well known serial killers like Bundy, Dahmer, and Gacy had killed long before they were adults themselves. If they were caught earlier, hundreds of lives would have been saved. This book shows that child killers would likely grow up to be serial killers if they are not caught earlier first.

Yes, Davis lets the crimes speak for themselves. But there is a trend in the USA of trying children as adults and all around demonizing them that this book seems to cash in on, and I find it quite inhumane and distasteful. If there had been any kind of thoughtful analysis it might have mitigated this content, as is I cannot accept it as more than it is: Cashing on on some people's need to be afraid, and giving child haters ballast for passing more hateful laws.

Fast shipping. Mind bending stories about these youth. Recommended f interested in these psyches in children.

The tragic truth about what happens to children left to their own defenses. In a world of parents who are emotionally and/or physically absent we see too many children falling into this trap.

This author, a non-professional, has bought the abuse excuses of numerous childhood killers who claim they were abused. There is virtually no corroborative evidence and the author is soft in the head about the child killers who claim, with no evidence, that they were repetetively abused. Skip this offering it is not worth the price. The author never knew any of the murderers and falls victim to their most ridiculous claims of abuse. This is a case example which demonstrates why lay people should never write about such murders because they are completely stupid and unprepared to consider the actual evidence.

i just raed this book and it was very interesting in the beggening with all the stories but i feel that there should have been more stories thats what kept me reading was the stories.anyway this book really shows you that there are kids who do do these things and that they need help.