If a child under 5 accidentally or on purpose murders someone what happens to them?
Surely they would be too young to understand what they did
In: Other
That depends on your definition of murder. In most countries, toddler cannot legally murder someone, because murder needs motive and criminal intent. That’s not possible with a toddler. However a toddler can kill someone, but again, they still couldn’t be charged with anything in most countries, because they are to young to be responsible for their actions.
At most, the parents or guardians could be charged with neglect if they put the toddler in a situation or state of mind, where they killed someone. Like if they handed them a loaded gun or something. Because there’s not that many ways a toddler can kill someone without “lucky circumstances”.
And child protective services would definitely watch the family for a while to make sure nothing happens again. Not because they blame the kid, because the kid is not capable of murder, but because the kid was put into a very dangerous situation and needs to be protected.
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