Title: Homicide Fact: Age Matters | Psychology Today
Headings: Homicide Fact: Age Matters
Scott A. Bonn Ph.D.
Homicide Fact: Age Matters
Murder is an act of the young.

Content: Age is inversely related to homicide risk, so that risk decreases as age increases. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data, the average age of homicide victims fell from 34.1 years in 1980 to 31.3 years in 1994, and then increased to 32.7 years by 2008. The data also show that homicide victimization rates are highest for adolescents and young adults. The number of young people who are murdered has dropped steadily since 1993, as it has for all age groups, but adolescents and young adults remain at highest risk of being murdered. Those younger than adolescence also become murder victims. Sadly, even young children are at risk, and homicide is a major cause of death among infants and toddlers. Homicide is the third leading cause of death of all persons under the age of five, and it is the leading cause of infant deaths due to injury. More than eighty percent of infant homicides are considered to be the result of fatal child abuse. In most of these deaths, the perpetrator is a primary caretaker of the child—that is, a parent, stepparent or domestic partner of a parent. The most common method of infant homicide is a tiny victim being beaten with fists or kicked to death.