Juvenile homicide victims, 1980-2010

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Working for Youth Justice and Safety

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Violent Crime Victimization

Q:	How many juveniles are victims of murder in the United States?
A:	Between 1980 and 2010, an estimated 58,850 juveniles were murdered in the United States – 1,450 in 2010.

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Homicides of juveniles peaked in 1993 at about 2,840. The number of juvenile homicide victims in 2010 was 49% below the 1993 peak and near the level of the mid-1980s. Juveniles represented about 10% of all murder victims in 2010.
In 2010, 30% of murdered juveniles were female, 49% were black, and 49% were killed with a firearm. Of the juvenile murder victims with known offenders in 2010, 38% were killed by family members, 46% by acquaintances, and 15% by strangers.
In 2009, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (within the Centers for Disease Control) listed homicide as the fourth leading cause of death for children ages 1 through 11 and third for youth ages 12 to 17.
Between 1980 through 2010, juvenile offenders participated in nearly 1 of every 4 homicides of juveniles in which the offenders were known to law enforcement. In about one-fifth of the juvenile homicides in which known juvenile offenders participated, adult offenders were also involved.

Internet citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/victims/qa02304.asp?qaDate=2010. Released on July 31, 2012.

Adapted from Puzzanchera, C. and Kang, W. (2012). Easy Access to the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports: 1980-2010. Available on-line at: http://ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezashr/.

Data Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation. Supplementary Homicide Reports for the years 1980–2010 [machine-readable data files]. Washington, D.C.: FBI.

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, WISQARS (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System) [accessed July 2012 from www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars].