Maternal filicide: risk factors for a death penalty outcome

ABSTRACT Since the death penalty was reinstated in the U. S. in 1976, 33 women have been sentenced to die for maternal filicide. In order to identify factors that elevate the risk that a given maternal filicide will result in a death sentence outcome, data were collected on the death-sentenced cases and compared to research findings on the general maternal filicide population overall. Because the focus of the study was on the salience of particular claims to juries’ and judges’ punishment decisions, the principal sources of data were court transcripts and reports referring to them. Findings indicated that the death-sentenced women had a lower rate of serious mental illness, higher rates of murder perpetrated by cumulative abuse and motivated by revenge or financial gain, and of victims over age one.