IL - 6 y.o. boy stabbed 2 y.o. brother, Joliet, 6 September 2024

[shotgun09]

JOLIET, Ill. (CBS) -- A 6-year-old boy stabbed his 2-year-old brother to death in Joliet late Friday afternoon, police said.

 

[Puzzles8]

In Joliet, IL a 6-year-old boy used a kitchen knife to stab his 2-year-old brother to death on Friday evening.

Investigators said they were called to a home after 5 p.m. When they arrived they found the boy had been stabbed multiple times. The mother was in another room when the stabbing occurred. The victim was rushed to the hospital and passed away.

""Everyone in this incident is a victim," said Sgt. Dwayne English with the Joliet Police Department. "There's such a sense of humanity in incidents like this where both the family and the people directly involved in this incident, and also frankly our officers, that respond. "We are human beings and this a definitely taken a toll on everyone involved.""

"Police said it was the mother who called 911 after finding her 2-year-old son. She was inside the home at the time of the stabbing but was in a different room, police said.
The Department of Children and Family Services (DCSF)is aware of what happened and is working with police, officials said. Police said their department has had contact with the family in the past but did not say what kind of contact that was or who it involved."

Joliet police investigating, community rattled after 6-year-old boy fatally stabs younger brother

Joliet police are investigating and a community is left rattled after a 6-year-old boy fatally stabbed his younger, 2-year-old brother.

abc7chicago.com

My heart breaks for the family. What an overwhelming tragedy.

JMO

 

[LadyL]

how does a 6 year old even have that violent thought? he should be playing with toy cars and super hero figures

 

[Sarahlou]

how does a 6 year old even have that violent thought? he should be playing with toy cars and super hero figures

I'd guess he's seen and experienced things he shouldn't have done at that age. JMO.
Tragic.

 

[Bluebear15]

Monkey see, monkey do. So sad...rip little one.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

My heart goes out to this family. What a thing to carry through life. Perhaps he has seen stabbings in a movie, T.V. show, video streaming, or video game and was mimicking what he saw?

 

[LadyL]

My heart goes out to this family. What a thing to carry through life. Perhaps he has seen stabbings in a movie, T.V. show, video streaming, or video game and was mimicking what he saw?

I was thinking that too.

 

[Rita7]

I'd guess he's seen and experienced things he shouldn't have done at that age. JMO.
Tragic.

Yes, what a tragic fatal incident! And we still know nothing about boys' family background and circumstances.

 

[mickey2942]

Of course, I think that someone else may have done it, and are setting up the 6 yo to take the fall. That being said, if that is not the case, it is a terrible tragedy. But doesn't surprise me.

 

[stonedgnome]

In cases like this, what happens to the 6 year old? I would think 6 is too young for juvie, and obviously way too young for prison. Does a 6 year old understand the severity of these actions??

 

[GoBuckeyes]

My heart goes out to this family. What a thing to carry through life. Perhaps he has seen stabbings in a movie, T.V. show, video streaming, or video game and was mimicking what he saw?

I think by age 6, he'd be able to understand that a knife is sharp and can harm. What a terrible situation.

 

[Soulmagent]

In cases like this, what happens to the 6 year old? I would think 6 is too young for juvie, and obviously way too young for prison. Does a 6 year old understand the severity of these actions??

Very good question, Do these kinds of children end up in a place like 7 yr old Serenity? Or is their history completely hidden from a foster family and never revealed to an adopted one? My thoughts are more of what if's than anything .
Link to Serenity's Story .
Serenity Dennard disappearance: 2019 mystery still causing misery

 

[stonedgnome]

Very good question, Do these kinds of children end up in a place like 7 yr old Serenity? Or is their history completely hidden from a foster family and never revealed to an adopted one? My thoughts are more of what if's than anything .
Link to Serenity's Story .
Serenity Dennard disappearance: 2019 mystery still causing misery

Serenity's story is devastating. I didn't know about it until now, thank you for the article link.

I would imagine it would be extremely difficult for the parents of the 6 year old boy to heal from this with the child still in the house that he killed his baby brother in. I didn't consider that a foster or adopted family would be an option, because then the parents lost not just one child but two. But it would be equally as hard raising a child that you know murdered your other child.

Absolutely heartbreaking.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I doubt he ends up being removed from his home, unless more comes out to warrant that. And doubt his family are blaming him, at least that's what we'd hope. I think most families would be doubling-down that he's just a little kid who didn't truly understand nor intend the outcome. JMO.

 

[Sarahlou]

In cases like this, what happens to the 6 year old? I would think 6 is too young for juvie, and obviously way too young for prison. Does a 6 year old understand the severity of these actions??

The only thing that should happen to a child that age is whatever therapy is needed and being removed from their home if it's an abusive one.

 

[stonedgnome]

I doubt he ends up being removed from his home, unless more comes out to warrant that. And doubt his family are blaming him, at least that's what we'd hope. I think most families would be doubling-down that he's just a little kid who didn't truly understand nor intend the outcome. JMO.

I could see this being the case. I just can't fathom having to reconcile that the child you care for every day murdered your other child. How would you continue to compartmentalize that?
(I don't have children so I recognize that I do not have that parental instinct.)

 

[tlcya]

many more details have come to light about the childhood environment and parents of the two boys. Father faced a criminal case in 2022 for beating the then 4 year old who is now 6. The 2 year old brother shares a mother with the accused child, but not a father.

DCFS has been involved with this family since at least 2022. the 6 year old received a diagnosis of ODD at the age of 4.

more at this link Dad Abused Boy Accused Of Killing Little Brother In Joliet: Complaint

 

[ChatteringBirds]

@stonedgnome I would not think of it as my child committing murder, if they were only 6. I would think of it as they really didn't understand what they were doing, and personally, I would probably blame myself (for being in the other room, for example, even though that's going to happen to all parents at some point). (And IMO this is also why you see even parents/relatives of violent teenagers defending them. Because it's still their child, and they look for reasons to explain why the child did what they did.)

And I think you would not want to "lose" another child, even psychologically, so you would have to blame something else, such as "an accident," etc.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Father faced a criminal case in 2022 for beating the then 4 year old who is now 6. The 2 year old brother shares a mother with the accused child, but not a father.

DCFS has been involved with this family since at least 2022. the 6 year old received a diagnosis of ODD at the age of 4.

Oh no. This poor mother. And poor father of the 2-year-old. I can see which criminal to blame, and he's not 6.
MOO/JMO.

 

[stonedgnome]

many more details have come to light about the childhood environment and parents of the two boys. Father faced a criminal case in 2022 for beating the then 4 year old who is now 6. The 2 year old brother shares a mother with the accused child, but not a father.

DCFS has been involved with this family since at least 2022. the 6 year old received a diagnosis of ODD at the age of 4.

more at this link Dad Abused Boy Accused Of Killing Little Brother In Joliet: Complaint

A friend that I lived with for quite a while had a stepson with ODD, and he was also abused by a parent (prior to him living with us) and that was ROUGH. Trauma is a devastating spark to cause something like this. I always worried for the child I lived with, and the other two kids in the house as well, because of his violent tendencies that came from his ODD.