Divorce and separation can bring out the worst in people, and disputes over child custody often become contentious. In some rather extreme and horrifying cases, one parent has been known to murder his or her children as a means of getting back at their ex or keeping the kids away from their former partner. Sadly, kids are murdered and killed during custody disputes a lot more often than most people might imagine.

Nearly every 6 days in the U.S., a child is killed in a custody dispute. The nonprofit Center for Judicial Excellence found that 944 children had been killed by a divorcing or separating parent or parent figure just since 2008. The lowest annual rate was 24 child custody murders in 2008, and the high was 83 child custody murders in 2011. Most of the years averaged something in between, such as the 64 children murdered during custody disputes in 2022. Since this study only tracked news reports, these numbers are almost certainly a significant undercount. Fathers were accused of murdering the children in 71% of cases, mothers in 17%, and 12% of the time children were murdered by a non-biological parent figure or relative. (Altucker, 2023)

Here are some of the stories behind the statistics; cases of children murdered by their parents during custody disputes:

Mother murders her kids during custody dispute
Kimberlee Singler, a Colorado mother, had repeatedly disobeyed court orders to allow her ex-husband parenting time with their children. To try and deny this mandatory visitation she had claimed domestic violence an child abuse on the part of her ex, but the court found these reports weren’t credible. So in November 2023 she was ordered to give the father parenting time during the holiday season. Instead she apparently decided to murder her kids.

Singler once again failed to bring the kids to a child custody exchange at the police station. Two days later, on December 19, she allegedly murdered her 7-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter while attempting to murder a third 11-year-old daughter, who managed to survive. She then apparently staged a break-in and tried to blame the murders on an intruder. She was arrested as she tried to flee the country to London on Dec. 23. (Baker, 2024)

Father wins custody of daughter only to then murder her
A father was awarded custody of his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony Montgomery, in 2019. Shortly thereafter the little girl disappeared and hasn’t been seen since. The father was arrested several years later, and the girl is presumed dead.

Woman Looses Custody & Murders Relatives & Social Worker
In Barre, Vermont, 40-year-old Jody Herring pleaded not guilty to 3 counts of aggravated murder in a killing spree that stemmed from a child custody dispute. The South Barre woman is accused of killing 3 of her relatives along with a social worker after the social worker ended the woman’s custody of her 9 year-old daughter. She also pleaded not guilty to a 4th count of murder a few days earlier for killing the social worker, Lara Sobel. (Unknown source)

Man Drowns 3 Kids in Hotel Bathtub
In Baltimore, Maryland, 41-year-old Mark Castillo apparently drowned his 3 young children in a bathtub at Inner Harbor Hotel. He was involved in a custody dispute with his estranged wife at the time. Court documents say he confessed to killing Anthony, 6, Austin, 4, and Athena, age two, in March. He pleaded not criminally responsible. (USA Today, 5-20-2008, 6A)

References:
Baker, C. (2024, Jan. 22) “Custody battle turns deadly,” People, pp. 50-51
Altucker, K. (2023, July 18) “As family court fails, too many kids die,” USA Today, p. 4A