Murder committed by a teenager, as well as an adult, is clearly interpreted by law as a serious crime. However, in terms of liability, the law is lenient towards them - being a minor is considered a mitigating circumstance. Also, the investigative authorities and the court carefully study many factors of the crime - the social adaptation and mental adequacy of the teenager. Many of these factors are often interpreted in favor of the accused.
The leniency of the law and the humanistic belief that a child killer can still become a normal member of society does not abolish justice. The charge of murder by a minor implies a considerable prison sentence. And it is unlikely to be avoided.
Features of murders committed by minors
Which articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are devoted to murder? There are four main ones:
- Article 105 (murder, which is interpreted in modern legislation as intentional causing of death, with or without aggravating circumstances;
- Article 106 (talks about cases when a mother kills her own newborn child);
- Article 107 (affected murder, that is, in strong emotional excitement);
- Article 108 (defense, as a result of which the attacker is killed by the victim).
None of these articles specifically talks about cases of committing the listed crimes by minors. To fully understand, you will have to turn to other articles of the Criminal Code.
Are the murders committed by adults and teenagers different? Criminologists, sociologists and psychologists are almost unanimous here: yes.
Teenagers often lack so-called social inhibitions. Many recent children still have not formed behavioral barriers. Because of this, murders by minors are sometimes horrifyingly cruel, sophisticated and completely childish.
When a death case involving a minor suspect (accused) comes to the investigative authorities or the court, many factors have to be taken into account. In particular, the level of mental development by which the severity of the crime is determined.
"I'll jump out of the window!" — What should parents do?
Any talk of suicide should be taken seriously. Don't be afraid to look alarmist or cause harm with your help. If you are right, you will be able to avoid trouble. If not, the child will learn that there are words that are wrong to throw around. Seek help if you don’t feel strong enough to talk to your child on your own.
If a teenager threatens to harm himself, ask him about it in detail. This conversation should have a lot of empathy, a desire to help, and there should be no judgment, ridicule or blame. You may think that such conversations can push you over the edge, but this is not the case. A person who thinks about death is not afraid to talk about it. By being sensitive to your child's words, you will not encourage him to continue the “game” if he made a threat without thinking.
Parents give life. Supporting the child’s desire to continue it is the next logical step. Try to evaluate the suffering that caused your child to utter terrible words. Evaluate not the situation itself, but how the child perceives it. The same events lead people to different states. One will experience helplessness and hopelessness - the other will not pay attention. Your task is to understand for yourself and help the child understand what it was. A figure of speech, a request for help or a warning.
Assassination
What is attempted murder anyway? What the criminal does (does not do) with the aim of depriving a person/people of life, but cannot complete the crime because something interfered.
This explanation is contained in the third part of Article 30 of the Criminal Code. The age of the offender is not specified. Consequently, attempted murder by a minor will be considered through the prism of several articles at once.
First, the court will have to qualify the attempt under any of the “murderous” articles. Then, accept as truth that the failed minor murderer did not abandon the attempt on his own, but under the influence of some circumstances.
Finally, Article 66 of the Criminal Code will be applied. She points out: it is necessary to take the maximum sentence for the charged article and leave three quarters of it. How long a teenager can atone for his guilt will be discussed below.
The Internet is more accessible than parents
– Among other reactions to the increasing frequency of emergency situations in Russian schools, when teenagers shoot, attack with a knife, there is this: “In Soviet times, this did not happen, then the school not only taught, but also educated!” Maybe it’s true that schools today lack “education”?
– Aggression was, is and will be. This is one of the possible reactions of a person if he does not understand what is happening. No wonder they say that the best defense is attack.
When a teenager is not needed by anyone, is not interesting, when he is lost, he becomes dangerous - for himself or for others.
A special problem for teenagers is that they want to act like adults, but have no idea how to do it. And the idea of how adults act is not always a copy of their parents. More often than not, such actions are what the child sees on the screen and on the Internet.
The Internet is more accessible than parents - it’s not always possible to have heart-to-heart conversations with parents, but the Internet has opened and found the “answer” to any question. And the child solves many questions at once - how to demonstrate his independence, to show, if not intelligence, then strength. For a teenager, all this is of paramount importance.
Of course, the easiest way is to find the extreme one and blame it all on the Internet. But this is not true! The Internet provides information, and you need to know how to use it. If a child is interested in living and learning, if his life is filled with events not only in the classroom, but also outside of school, there will be no reason for aggression.
Of course, not everyone can be successful academically. But studying is only part of life.
Photo from 21cccs.org
It is important to help your child find his niche so that he understands: yes, I’m not an excellent student in mathematics, but I’m good at sports or in drama school. Then the child will feel that he is important and interesting to different people, and his talents are worthy of admiration and respect from both peers and adults.
Otherwise, the teenager will simply give up, and he will feel superfluous and incompetent.
Therefore, we must notice successes, we must respect the opinions and actions of young people, we must rejoice at independent steps and do it loudly.
The opinion of adults is important for a teenager; it is simply not accepted to show it.
A teenager checks himself on the significant person who is nearby. It doesn’t matter if they are teachers, tutors, a psychologist or just acquaintances. The praise of such a person, his support, his opinion are important to him. But, unfortunately, more often than not our children hear something completely different from their always-hurrying and anxious parents: if you don’t pass the Unified State Exam, you’ll end up working as a janitor.
But if something doesn’t work out for a child, if his loved ones only criticize him, if other children are not accepted into the company, this is the road to nowhere.
The child cannot cope with the fact that everyone pushes him away, and at the same time cannot cope with his loneliness. It is then that he either rushes into battle to prove to the world that he exists and is worthy of attention, or folds his hands and says: “There is no worse person than me. Why then should I live in this world?” He withdraws and becomes bitter. And this is the worst thing that can happen to a child’s soul.
Threats
If a minor is 14–16 years old, he will not have to answer for threatening to kill (Article 119). If a sixteen-year-old threatens to take someone's life, he bears full responsibility for it with almost no limits. There is only one thing: if the threat is qualified under the first part of Article 119, there will be no imprisonment for a teenager who has not been charged before.
So, the time has come to find out how much they give for killing a person by a minor, and what is the general criminal liability for such an act under the articles of law.
Signals that make you seek help immediately
If you notice these signals, seek help from a psychologist or psychiatrist. In the very near future.
- The child tried to harm himself. It doesn't matter what the attempt looked like. If he has taken the first steps, the chances of completed suicide increase.
- The child came up with a plan. Decided how, when he would kill himself, he set a probationary period.
- You found traces of preparation - diaries, correspondence, materials on methods of taking life, searching for what you needed on the Internet.
- The child has lost interest in life - does not communicate with friends, gives away his things, is in a state of hopelessness.
- Flirts with death, romanticizing it - interested in websites, videos, movies about death and suicide.
- Has changed dramatically in behavior, mood, habits. I slept a lot - now I don’t sleep. He ate with gusto, but didn’t eat anything. He was shy and behaved defiantly.
- Experienced a personal or family tragedy - lost a loved one or friend, fell unrequitedly in love, is acutely worried about the divorce of his parents.
Seeking help in a timely manner is more important than avoiding the attention of doctors or other authorities. Don't be afraid to take your child to a specialist. This may not be a city clinic - but a private practitioner
Criminal liability
What punishment will a minor receive for murder? This entirely depends on the article being charged.
Murders under Articles 106 – 108 are recognized as crimes with so-called privileged elements. This means that there are always extenuating circumstances.
The “adult” sentence does not exceed five years. We can talk about forced labor, correctional labor, imprisonment, or restriction of freedom.
Punishments for privileged murders vary. Only in the rarest cases can the court's decision be predicted in advance in such cases when the offender is under eighteen years of age.
- In any case, Article 88 of the Criminal Code, which clearly outlines the terms of punishment for teenagers, will be added to the article for murder. From this article it can be understood that a teenager under fourteen years of age will not be sent to prison for privileged murder.
- Murder by a minor may fall under the strictest Article 105. In this case, the maximum term of imprisonment for criminals under fourteen and sixteen years of age is six and ten years, respectively. Serving in a correctional colony.
The terms and some subtleties of involving teenagers in correctional, compulsory labor are specifically stipulated. The possibility and method of imposing a fine is also specified.
The video below will tell you more about the responsibility of juvenile killers:
Finally, here are a couple of real-life examples of murders by minors.
Peculiarities of consideration of cases of minors
As already mentioned, the court and investigation consider cases of minors especially carefully. Sometimes it turns out that the crime was committed unconsciously or even under someone’s duress.
Therefore, the authorities take into account many aspects:
- the conditions in which the child grew up and was raised;
- mental and mental development;
- adult influence (incitement or involvement in crime).
Note. Finding out the details of the crime can exclude criminal liability, unless, of course, the crime was serious.
Assignment of punishment by age
To find out all the types of responsibility that a teenager is charged with, you need to take a closer look at Art. 88 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Liability measures provided for by law:
- fine;
- deprivation of the right to hold certain positions;
- correctional work;
- compulsory work;
- restriction of freedom;
- deprivation of liberty.
The fine, according to the article, is imposed on a teenager who has earnings or any property. If the culprit does not have the above, parents or guardians pay for it.
Correctional work is limited to a period of up to 1 year. Also, correctional labor cannot be assigned to a person under 15 years of age.
Compulsory work is assigned up to 160 hours. At the same time, the work must be feasible for the teenager and it must be performed in his free time from classes or work. The law also provides for age restrictions: 2 hours a day for convicts under 15 years of age and 3 hours a day for 15- and 16-year-old offenders.
Restriction of freedom is imposed for up to 2 years. However, this measure can only serve as the main punishment.
Imprisonment for a minor is an exceptional punishment. It cannot be imposed on a teenager who has committed a crime of minor or moderate gravity for the first time. For especially serious crimes, such as, for example, the murder of several people, a minor under the age of 16 will be sent to a colony for 10 years.
A serious crime is punishable by imprisonment for up to 6 years. For a person who committed a crime when he was over 16 years old, regardless of the severity of the crime, a punishment of no more than 10 years in prison is imposed.
Note. The lower limit of sanctions that are imposed on a teenager for a serious or especially serious crime, according to Art. 88 of the Criminal Code are reduced by half. Thus, if the minimum sentence for murder is 6 years, then for a convicted teenager it will be half as much - 3 years.
