It seems unimaginable that a young person could commit murder. Kids are supposed to be thinking of their friends, their homework, and what they’re going to wear to the dance. We’ve compiled this list of children who murdered. They were all under the age of 18 when they committed their crime. All of the youngsters on this list have been convicted in some shape or form. When you read about some of the gruesome acts of violence, you’ll no doubt feel shocked that someone so young could do such a thing. Some of these kids murdered their parents, some killed other family members, some killed strangers, and even creepier are those that killed other kids. We hope you don’t work with children or teens after reading this because you might just feel a bit creeped out by them.

15. Christopher Pittman

It seems ridiculous that the kid pictured above could commit murder. He looks like any other kid. There’s no look of evil in his eyes. No soulless stare. At the young age of twelve, Pittman murdered his grandparents. Pittman shot them both then set the house on fire.  It turns out that at the time of murder, he was on prescription medication for depression. His defence purported that the medication he was taking caused him to act abnormally. Anyone who takes an anti-depressant or other similar type of medication knows that the side-effects can sometimes be severe. Pittman pled guilty to his crimes and remains in prison today.

14. Mary Bell

Mary Bell committed her murders when she was just eleven years old. The young murderess murdered Martin Brown and Brian Howe in cold blood. The two youngsters were both under five years old. Both boys were strangled, their bodies left to be found. Bell lived in an unstable home with a mother who didn’t seem to really want her. Who knows, a terrible childhood may have caused her to act out in this way. Bell was finally convicted of manslaughter and was released in 1980. She’s obviously changed her name since her release and has a daughter. It’s also rumored that she’s a grandmother now.

13. Roberto Martinez-Marinero

How can any person kill their own mother? That’s exactly what Roberto Martinez-Marinero did. He also murdered his younger half-brother who was just a preschooler. He pleaded guilty to the crime but was able to avoid being sentenced to death. He’ll be in prison for the rest of his days for killing his mother during an argument. He beat his mother with a bat and stabbed her for good measure. He also threw his younger half-sibling over a bridge. His crime is unfathomable. What could make you so angry that you’d do such a thing to the people you’re supposed to love?

12. Yukio Yamaji

Yukio Yamaji looked pretty unassuming, but the Japanese murderer was anything but. He murdered a total of three people. At the age of sixteen, he murdered his own mother by beating her to death with a bat. It seems that he was angry about the fact that this mom was chatting on the phone with his love interest and he was not pleased with the fact that his mom was plunging them deeper into debt. He was arrested for the murder of his mother but was paroled a short time later. In 2005, he murdered two young women, sisters, by stabbing them to death. He was executed in 2009 for his crimes.

11. Jon Venables & Robert Thompson

It’s not that crazy to imagine children committing murder. Kids aren’t totally aware of the consequences of their actions. They barely have a handle on their emotions. But a child torturing another child? That’s insane. Jon Venables and Robert Thompson beat James Patrick Bulger, a toddler, to death in Liverpool, England. The two boys were just eleven years old when they committed the heinous crime. They abducted Bulger from a shopping mall and took him to a secluded location near some train tracks. There, they tortured him. The crime is horrific and the fact that it was committed by children seems completely insane. Venables was released at the age of eighteen but in 2010, he found himself back in prison due to child pornography charges.

10. Craig Price

Craig Price was just thirteen years old when he committed his first crime. He even earned himself the nickname ‘The Warwick Slasher’. Can you imagine a thirteen year old serial killer? No? Well, we introduce you to Craig Price. He murdered two women and two young girls between the years of 1987 and 1989. He was eventually arrested and confessed to the murders. We can’t imagine how his mother must have felt. Finding out your son is the youngest serial murderer in United States history? That’s got to be a pretty big blow. He’s set to be released in 2020. Yikes…

9. Sean Sellers

Sean Sellers was sixteen when he committed his first crime. His first offence, was the shooting death of store clerk, Robert Bower. A little under a year later, Sellers ended up murdering his mother and stepfather. He shot them both while they slept. His excuse? And also his defence? His obsession with ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ made him do it and oh, he was also possessed. The jury didn’t buy it and Sellers was convicted and put on death row. He was executed in 1999. After his execution, the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional for criminals to be executed if they committed their crimes under eighteen years of age.

8. Daniel Bartlam

Do you love watching soaps? Are you a Coronation Street fan? Daniel Bartlam sure was. He beat his mother to death with a hammer. It seems he was trying to commit the perfect murder. He was sure he would get away with it. He modelled the crime after one he saw on Coronation Street. He attempted to burn her body to get rid of the evidence, thinking he would get away scot free. Bartlam was fourteen when he killed his mother. He said that the murder occurred when the two were arguing but there’s a lot of evidence that points to some degree of planning on Bartlam’s part.

7. Alyssa Bustamente

Alyssa Bustamente committed one of the more recent murders on this list. In 2009, she murdered her nine year old neighbor, Elizabeth Olten. Bustamente was just fifteen years old when she committed the gruesome murder. It seems she just wanted to kill someone for the thrill of it. She picked an easy target that was living next door and proceeded to slash the young girl’s throat, stab, and asphyxiate her. She even wrote about the killing in her diary. How do you deal with a young offender like this? Bustamente was sentenced to life in prison but is eligible for parole.

6. Anne Perry

Anne Perry was once known as Juliet Hulme. You might recognize the details of her crime as they were the basis for the film ‘Heavenly Creatures’. She participated in the murder of Pauline Parker’s mother, Honora Rieper. The murder occurred on June 22, 1954 and the girls were arrested the following day. Rieper was hit over the head with a heavy brick more than twenty times. Perry was only fifteen at the time of the murder and was released in 1959. After her release, she took on the name Anne Perry. She’s now a fairly well-known writer and has published a plethora of novels.

5. Eric Smith

It takes a lot to creep us out, but Eric Smith definitely gives off a bad vibe. Even as a kid, he looked eerie in photographs. Smith murdered young Derrick Robie, who was just four years old, in 1993. He strangled him, sexually abused him, and even dropped heavy rocks on Robie’s head. Smith was only thirteen when he killed the boy. The whole parole thing is a mystery to us. It seems a bit arbitrary. Some really heinous people are let out while others stay locked up indefinitely. Smith has been denied parole over and over again. Last year, he was denied once again. He’ll be up for parole again in 2018.

4. Brenda Spencer

Brenda Spencer committed a school shooting in early 1979. She opened fire on ‘Cleveland Elementary’ and gunned down the principal of the school and a school janitor. Her shooting spree hurt eight elementary school children and a police officer. The year prior, Spencer had almost been admitted to a psychiatric hospital. She was suicidal and depressed. Her dad refused to let his daughter be admitted to the hospital. For Christmas, he got his depressed and potentially suicidal daughter a gun. Totally logical. Spencer was sixteen when she shot up the school and pleaded guilty to her crimes. In years since, she’s been denied parole but has expressed remorse saying, about modern school shootings, “I feel I’m partially responsible”.

3. Daniel Petric

When kids kill their parents we react with shock and horror. It’s so unbelievable that we try to look for reasons behind the crime. Did the parents mistreat the child? Was the child being abused? Were they horrible parents? Sometimes these things are true, but in the case of Daniel Petric, they’re not part of the story. Petric was furious when his parents took away his video game. Instead of sulking, like most kids, he turned a gun on his mom and dad. His mother was killed but his father survived the attack. Can you imagine Petric’s father? Mourning the loss of his wife and son? Petric was sentenced to twenty three years for his crimes.

2. Joshua Phillips

Joshua Phillips was only fourteen when he murdered young Maddie Clifton, a girl who was eight years old. When Maddie disappeared, Phillips turned up to help look for her. But Phillips already knew that she was dead, and he knew exactly where she was. Phillips had stashed the girl’s body under his water bed. He beat and stabbed Maddie. He was sentenced to life and does not have the possibility of parole. That’s pretty crazy considering his young age at the time of the crime. But, the particular brutality of the crime is what got Phillips such a severe sentence.

1. J.R. (Jasmine Richardson)

Jasmine Richardson killed her parents and younger brother with the help of her boyfriend, Jeremy Steinke. Steinke murdered Richardson’s mother and father and Richardson brutally murdered her younger brother. At the time of the crime, she was only twelve years old. Her older boyfriend, twenty-three years old at the time of the murder, called himself a werewolf. Red flag! Richardson, once known only as J.R., now walks free. We can’t imagine how a person can live with themselves after murdering their whole family. How do you live a normal life after that? Sure, Richardson’s boyfriend probably manipulated her somehow, but she still lost her entire family to such a violent crime. And she was a participant.

Sources:  CBS News, The Daily Beast, Democrat and Chronicle, News.com.au, The Telegraph