Child homicides linked to teen pregnancies: study - many young homicide victims had teenage mothers - Brief Article

Jet, July 19, 1993

A recent study in Chicago that may have had national implications found that most youngsters who are victims of homicide in the city had teen-age mothers.

A review of 1993 cases was done by the office of county Commissioner Maria Pappas to examine the social consequences of teen pregnancies. The data showed, of 25 child murder cases in Cook County this year, 19 involved the offspring of mothers who first became pregnant during their teens. Among the 19, nine were fatally shaken or beaten, four died from gunshot wounds, three were burned, one was stabbed, another strangled and one died after being shot, stabbed and beaten, records indicate.

Dr. Carl Bell, well known psychiatrist who is executive director of the community Mental Health Council on Chicago's South Side, agreed survey findings were "valid." He said, "Teen mothers... have had less time developing their own lives to the point of being able to take care of an infant which could often result in abuse or neglect.