Social scientists have proposed a number of theories to explain juvenile delinquency. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Top 10 Young Killers Mirian Calin May 14, 2011 A number of child killings have been recorded throughout the years. These often have involved disturbing acts one can hardly imagine a child suffering through. These cases are becoming more controversial as the number of child killings increases every year. However, what happens if that innocent and vulnerable-looking child is the one responsible for the abduction and murders in your neighborhood? Would you believe the accusations made of someone so young? Could a child really commit such crimes? These are not your typical childish crimes of stealing toys from a friend, or bullying a schoolmate. This is the list for the top 10 young killers. There is a small amount of overlap from the list of evil children, for the sake of including people that really do deserve to be on this list. 10 Eric Smith January 22, 1980 “You may think I’m a threat to the well-being of society. And I can understand why you would feel that way. The fact is that I’m not. I’d be an asset to society.” At 13, Eric Smith was bullied because of his thick glasses, freckles, long red hair and one other quality: He had protruding, elongated ears. These were believed to be a side effect of medicine his mother had taken for her epilepsy when she was pregnant. Police charged Smith with the murder of a four-year-old boy named Derrick Robie. The younger child had been strangled, had large rocks dropped on his head, and had been sodomized with a small stick. When asked why he did it, Smith cannot give a definite answer. A psychiatrist diagnosed Smith with intermittent explosive disorder, a condition in which a person cannot control inner rage. Smith was convicted and went to prison. As of today, he’s been in prison for six years and has been denied parole five times. Get a closer look at the disturbed mind of a killer with Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters at Amazon.com! 9 Joshua Phillips March 17, 1984 “There should be a sensitivity to the fact that a 14-year-old is not a little adult.” – Florida Governor Jeb Bush What started as a regular room cleaning ended with the conviction of a 14-year-old boy named Joshua Phillips. His mother went to clean up his room one morning after Phillips left for school. Mrs. Phillips noticed a wet spot under her son’s bed and thought it was a leak from his waterbed. As she was investigating the bed to see if it needed to be drained, she found electrical tape holding the frame together. She thought her son had known the about leak but didn’t want to get into trouble. She removed enough tape to discover her son’s sock underneath, but she was surprised to feel something cold. The beam of her flashlight showed her the dead body of Maddie Clifton, an 8-year-old neighbor who had been missing for seven days. People in the community, especially the boy’s parents, .

1. Social scientists have proposed a number of theories to explain
juvenile delinquency. Each has its own strengths and
weaknesses.
Top 10 Young Killers
Mirian Calin
May 14, 2011
A number of child killings have been recorded throughout the
years. These often have involved disturbing acts one can hardly
imagine a child suffering through. These cases are becoming
more controversial as the number of child killings increases
every year. However, what happens if that innocent and
vulnerable-looking child is the one responsible for the
abduction and murders in your neighborhood? Would you
believe the accusations made of someone so young? Could a
child really commit such crimes? These are not your typical
childish crimes of stealing toys from a friend, or bullying a
schoolmate. This is the list for the top 10 young killers. There is
a small amount of overlap from the list of evil children, for the
sake of including people that really do deserve to be on this list.
10
Eric Smith
January 22, 1980
“You may think I’m a threat to the well-being of society. And I
can understand why you would feel that way. The fact is that
I’m not. I’d be an asset to society.”
At 13, Eric Smith was bullied because of his thick glasses,
freckles, long red hair and one other quality: He had protruding,
elongated ears. These were believed to be a side effect of
medicine his mother had taken for her epilepsy when she was
pregnant. Police charged Smith with the murder of a four-year-
old boy named Derrick Robie. The younger child had been
strangled, had large rocks dropped on his head, and had been
sodomized with a small stick. When asked why he did it, Smith

2. cannot give a definite answer. A psychiatrist diagnosed Smith
with intermittent explosive disorder, a condition in which a
person cannot control inner rage. Smith was convicted and went
to prison. As of today, he’s been in prison for six years and has
been denied parole five times.
Get a closer look at the disturbed mind of a killer with
Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters
at
Amazon.com!
9
Joshua Phillips
March 17, 1984
“There should be a sensitivity to the fact that a 14-year-old is
not a little adult.” – Florida Governor Jeb Bush
What started as a regular room cleaning ended with the
conviction of a 14-year-old boy named Joshua Phillips. His
mother went to clean up his room one morning after Phillips left
for school. Mrs. Phillips noticed a wet spot under her son’s bed
and thought it was a leak from his waterbed. As she was
investigating the bed to see if it needed to be drained, she found
electrical tape holding the frame together. She thought her son
had known the about leak but didn’t want to get into trouble.
She removed enough tape to discover her son’s sock underneath,
but she was surprised to feel something cold. The beam of her
flashlight showed her the dead body of Maddie Clifton, an 8-
year-old neighbor who had been missing for seven days.
People in the community, especially the boy’s parents, could
hardly believe he could have killed Clifton. Phillips was one of
the neighbors who had volunteered to search for the missing
girl. Because he was under 16, Phillips did not qualify for the
death penalty. He was convicted and sentenced to life
imprisonment, with no possibility of being freed. To this day,
Phillips has not stated his motives for killing Clifton. He said
he accidentally hit her in the eye with a baseball bat, and then
dragged her to his room where he hit and stabbed her, but the

3. jury did not believe his story.
8
George Stinney
October 21, 1929–June 16, 1944
Note: In December 2014, Stinney was exonerated on the basis
that his confession was coerced and that he was wrongfully
convicted without a fair trial.
On June 16, 1944, the United States set a record when they
executed George Stinney (14 years old), the youngest person to
be legally executed in the US during the twentieth century.
George was convicted of the murder of two girls named Betty
June Binnicker (11) and Mary Emma Thames (8) who were both
found in a muddy hole. The girls suffered severe fractures to
their skulls, inflicted by a railroad spike found some distance
from the town. George confessed to the crime and said that he
wanted to have sex with Betty but ended up killing the girls. He
was tried and sentenced to death in the electric chair; the case
was not appealed because his family had no money to pay for a
continuation.
7
Lionel Tate
January 30, 1987
“I was imitating the professional wrestlers”
What might be thought of as a regular TV wrestling match led
to the death of a six-year-old girl named Tiffany Eunick.
Kathleen Grossett-Tate was trusted to babysit Tiffany and
brought her over to her house one evening. She left Tiffany with
her son Lionel, age 14, to watch the television when she went
upstairs. Around 10 p.m., she yelled at the children to be quiet,
but didn’t check what the noise was about, thinking that they
were just playing. Forty-five minutes later, Lionel called to his
mother and told her that the girl was not breathing. He
explained that they had been wrestling and he had her in a
headlock as he slammed her on the table.

4. Authorities were called and a medical examiner reported that
the cause of death was due to forceful stomping that lacerated
Tiffany’s liver. Aside from that, experts testified that the girl
suffered a fractured skull and rib, swelling in the brain from a
beating that lasted from one to five minutes, and 35 other
injuries. Tate changed his statement later and said that he
jumped on her from the staircase. Tate was sentenced to a
lifetime of imprisonment without parole in 2001, but his
sentence was overturned on the basis that he was not given a
mental competency hearing before, or during, the trial. He was
released in 2004 with 10 years’ probation.
6
Barry Dale Loukaitis
“This sure beats algebra, doesn’t it?”
On February 2, 1996, the Frontier Middle School was
devastated by a hostage-taking incident and shooting spree that
occurred in an algebra class. It took the lives of three people
(two students and a teacher) and resulted in the critical injury of
one student. The person accused was a 14-year-old boy named
Barry Dale Loukaitis, who was experiencing delusional and
messianic thoughts before the shooting. Barry was dressed to
look like a gunslinger from the Wild West in a black duster, and
armed with a .30-30 caliber rifle, a .357 caliber pistol and a .25
caliber pistol that belonged to his father. The students were held
hostage for 10 minutes before a gym coach tricked and
outwitted the boy.
It was believed that, aside from a history of mental illness and
dysfunctional issues in his family, Barry was influenced by
Pearl Jam’s song and video “Jeremy.” The video shows a
troubled youth committing suicide in front of his classmates and
teacher. It was also reported that he said “This sure beats
algebra, doesn’t it?” when he saw his classmates panic. This is a
quote from a Stephen King novel, Rage, in which the
protagonist kills two teachers and takes his algebra class

5. hostage. Barry is currently serving two life sentences, with an
additional 205 years in prison.
5
Craig Price
“As far as the girls go, it was my utmost intention to let them
live.”
Joan Heaton (39), along with her two daughters, Jennifer (10)
and Melissa (8), were found lifeless, blood-soaked and brutally
murdered in their home on September 4, 1989. They were
stabbed so fiercely that the knife broke off in Melissa’s neck.
Police reported that Joan had approximately 60 stab wounds,
while the young girls had approximately 30. The authorities
believed that burglary was the suspect’s main motive; the knife
used was from the Heaton’s kitchen and the women had possibly
caught the suspect and fought against him. It was also believed
that the burglar must have been someone from the Heaton’s
neighborhood, who would have obtained a cut or wound in the
hand, due to the force and number of times the victims were
stabbed.
Craig was spotted by the police with a bandage on his hand, but
said that he had smashed a car’s window. The police did not
believe his story. They investigated him and charged him after
finding the knife, gloves and other bloody items when they
searched Craig’s room. He admitted to the crime and to another
murder that had taken place in the neighborhood two years
earlier. The authorities already suspected him as the murderer in
that case, which was similar to Heaton’s and had started as
burglary. Craig was tried and convicted before his 16th
birthday, and is still in jail.
4
Graham Young

6. September 7, 1947 – August 22, 1990
“It grew on me like a drug habit, except it was not me who was
taking the drugs.”
At an early age, Graham Young had been fascinated with
chemistry, particularly types of poison and their effects on
people. His other great interest was idolizing murderers such as
Dr. Hawley Crippen, William Palmer, Adolf Hitler and others.
Young started experimenting with poisons when he was 14. He
usually lied about his age, and explained that a given poison
was for a school experiment so he could buy the chemicals he
needed. His family and friends were his victims. His father,
upon becoming ill, originally thought he just had a virus of
some sort. Then the apparent illness struck his wife and
daughter. All suffered from continuous vomiting, diarrhea and
stomach pains. In 1962, the mother of Young’s stepmother died
from poisoning.
At 14, Young already had the expertise of a postgraduate
chemistry student, all self-learned through library books. He
sometimes became a victim of his own poisoning when he
forgot on which foods he had placed his toxic chemicals. Young
was caught when his teacher inspected his desk one evening
after school, suspicious about the odd experiments Young was
suggesting to the class. The teacher found poisons, essays about
famous prisoners, and sketches of dying men. These revelations
led him to call the police. Young was sent to a maximum
security hospital, but this did not stop him from poisoning
hospital staff and fellow inmates (one of whom died). His
knowledge was so broad that he could extract cyanide from
laurel bush leaves. Young was released when he was 23 and
went to live with his sister. His poisoning spree continued—his
victims most often were coworkers. Young was sent back to
prison and eventually died there.
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7. 3
Jesse Pomeroy
November 29, 1859–September 29, 1932
“I might have done it.”
Jesse Pomeroy, born on November 29, 1859, in Charlestown,
Massachusetts, was referred to as the youngest person convicted
of murder, in the first degree, in the history of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Pomeroy started his cruel acts
against other children when he was 11. He had taken and
trapped seven children in a hidden spot where he would strip,
tie and torture them, by using a knife or by poking pins into
their flesh. He was caught and sent to a reform school, where he
was supposed to stay until he was 21, but was released after a
year and a half for good behavior.
After three years, he had changed from bad to worse. He
kidnapped and killed a 10 year old girl, named Katie Curran,
and was also accused of the murder of a four year old boy,
whose mutilated body was found in Dorchester Bay. Although
there is a lack of evidence that can conclusively link Pomeroy
to the little boy’s death, he was convicted for the death of Katie
when the police found her body in the basement of Pomeroy’s
mother’s dress shop, where it was carelessly left in an ash heap.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment, which he served in
solitary confinement; he died of natural causes at the age of 72.
2
Jon Venables and Robert Thompson
August 13, 1982, August 23, 1982
“All little boys are nice until they get older.” – Robert
Thompson
James Bulger’s mother left her two-year-old son at the butcher
shop’s door thinking that it would not take her long to return,
since there was no queue in the store. Little did she know that
it would be her last time she would see her son alive.
Jon and Robert, who were at the same mall as the Bulgers, were

8. participating in their usual activities: skipping class, browsing
the stores, pocketing things when the salespeople turned their
backs, and climbing chairs in the restaurants until they were
chased out. The boys came up with an idea to have a little boy
get lost outside so that he would get knocked over by a vehicle.
It was reported that the boys had a similar previous attempt on a
boy before James, which failed because the mother had become
aware of her missing child and found him before they could take
him outside.
During their two-mile walk, the 10-year-old boys had punched,
kicked, picked up and dropped James on his head. Some of the
acts were seen by passersby who ignored them, thinking that
they were just two older brothers who didn’t know how to take
care of their younger brother. Jon and Robert brought James
onto the local railway, where they flung paint in his left eye,
threw stones at him, beat him with bricks, and hit him with an
iron bar. They also sexually assaulted him and laid his body on
the railroad track, covering his bleeding head with bricks when
they thought he was dead. It was reported that James died
sometime before the train hit him.
1
Mary Bell
May 26, 1957
“Murder isn’t that bad; we all die sometime anyway.”
Brian Howe was found dead and covered with purple weeds and
grass, days after the death of Martin Brown who died of
asphyxiation. His hair was cut away, puncture marks were found
on his thighs, and his genitals were partially skinned. Apart
from these marks and injuries, a letter “M” had been imprinted
on his stomach. This was originally an “N,” but Mary added a
line to make it look like an “M.” The three-year-old boy had
been strangled to death. When the investigation narrowed down
to Mary Bell, she implicated herself by describing in detail a
pair of broken scissors—which was confidential evidence—that
had been played with by an 8-year-old boy whom Brian was

9. allegedly with, according to Bell.
Mary’s family background may be responsible for her unusual
behavior. She thought for a long time that her father was Billy
Bell, a habitual criminal who had been arrested for armed
robbery, but her biological father is unknown to this day. Mary
claimed that her mother, Betty, who was a prostitute, had forced
her to engage in sexual acts with men—particularly her
mother’s clients—at the age of four. Mary ended up at an all-
boys facility after her trial; she was too young to be held in
prison and too dangerous to be kept in an unequipped mental
hospital or an institution that housed troubled children. Her
mother repeatedly sold Mary’s story to the press at the time of
her daughter’s conviction. Mary was only 11 at that time. She
was released after 23 years and fought and won the case for
both her own anonymity and that of her daughter. This order is
consequently known as a Mary Bell Order.
After reading the case, select one (1) of the psychological
theories discussed in Chapter 4 of the text.
Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you:
Summarize three (3) key aspects of the juvenile case study that
you selected.
Highlight at least three (3) factors that you believe are
important for one to understand the origins of the juvenile’s
delinquent behavior.
Apply at least two (2) concepts from the theory that you chose
from the text that would help explain the juvenile’s behavior.
Identify one (1) appropriate strategy geared toward preventing
delinquency that is consistent with the theory you chose.
Use at least three (3) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and
other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

10. Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size
12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references
must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your
professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the
student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the
date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in
the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this
assignment are:
Differentiate between various theoretical explanations for
delinquent behavior.
Illustrate how social factors such as gender, racial and ethnic
background, and social class relate to delinquency.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in
juvenile delinquency and justice.
Write clearly and concisely about juvenile delinquency and
justice using proper writing mechanics.
Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality,
logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing
skills.