Last October, a 12-year-old girl in Florida was arrested after a notebook was found in the girls’ bathroom at her middle school. She had listed the names of other students she wanted to kill.
Last month in Ohio, two boys, ages 9 and 10, sexually assaulted and attempted to kill a 5-year-old autistic girl. They lured her into a field and left her naked and unconscious.
What inspired the maliciousness of such young children? can you find it in front Will they carry out the murder plan? Recent research offers hope.
Brutaverde et al. (2026) from the University of Bucharest investigated the association between childhood trauma, socio-economic status, and emerging Dark Triad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy). Recruited through online social media advertisements, 270 students completed assessments including the Short Dark Triad Measure, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and questions about their childhood living situations. Those who reported severe levels of abuse, neglect, or trauma also reported lower socio-economic status and below-average parental care. The researchers concluded that people who experienced early trauma were more likely to exhibit psychopathic traits. This is consistent with other research and the development of secondary psychosis in response to abuse (Sethi, et al, 2018).
However, such clinical data appear to provide only moderate predictive accuracy for adolescents who are likely to ultimately commit homicide. Rodriguez et al. (2025) added neural data and machine learning analysis to improve predictions. “This study is the first to examine the effectiveness of both clinical and neuroimaging data collected from juveniles already considered to be at high risk for future antisocial behavior in predicting who will commit future homicides in adulthood,” the researchers wrote.
They tested 202 formerly incarcerated youth for 16 years after their release. All had served time in a high-security juvenile detention facility in New Mexico between 2007 and 2011. Those with low IQ, traumatic brain injury, or signs of psychosis were excluded. Before starting the study, subjects underwent a baseline assessment and MRI scan. Thirty-five (17%) were found to have committed murder after release, based on records or self-reports. They became the H group. Those who did not commit murder were the No-H group.
The researchers used a weighted linear support vector machine to develop a model from a combination of variables that helped predict future homicidal behavior. Models included Clinical and neurological variables showed an accuracy of 76%. Clinical data alone With 65% accuracy.
Results and impact
Certain neurological profiles, earlier age at first arrest, and elevated psychopathic traits were associated with risk for future homicidal behavior, according to scores on the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV). This assessment is based on the well-established PCL-R Adult Psychopathy Assessment, which identifies underlying patterns of cheating, deception, fighting, bullying, callousness, and similar antisocial behavior. Subjects in the H group showed higher scores on baseline measures of these traits and exhibited antisocial behavior at an earlier age than the non-H group. Additionally, their MRI scans showed decreased gray matter in the bilateral amygdala, middle temporal pole, and right superior temporal pole.
The study concludes that “incorporating both clinical and neuroanatomical measurements increases the utility in predicting future homicidal behavior in high-risk youth.”
The therapeutic implications are clear. Evidence of psychopathic traits and early antisocial behavior, coupled with abnormalities in brain regions associated with emotional and social learning, may form the basis for preventive treatment for people deemed to be at high risk of committing future deadly violence.
Although this is a promising start, this same study first needs to be expanded to larger, more diverse, and more representative groups. Still, obtaining a child’s neurological profile can be a challenge. In some cases, within well-defined parameters, this study may justify it.
