On a quiet Sunday morning in Lorain, Ohio, tragedy struck when police responded to an apartment on W. 24th Street. There, they discovered a 45-year-old woman dead from an apparent gunshot wound—a shocking crime that would soon rattle the neighborhood and draw national attention. The alleged perpetrator? Her own 16-year-old son, who was arrested several hours later for her murder, according to a report from News 5 Cleveland. The community, still reeling, is left to grapple with the unimaginable: a son accused of killing his mother, and a family torn apart.
This devastating event is not an isolated case. According to a new Femicide Census report, published on September 2, 2025, by BBC North East Investigations, sons are statistically more likely to kill their mothers than strangers are to kill women. Of the 121 women killed by men in the United Kingdom during 2022, 12 were killed by their sons, while 11 were killed by strangers. The sobering figures underscore a grim reality—one that is often overlooked in discussions about domestic violence and femicide.
Dr. Karen Ingala Smith, executive director of the Femicide Census, emphasized the hidden scale of the problem. "For every woman killed by her son, there are many more who live with and endure serious violence and abuse," she told the BBC. The report paints a stark picture: most female victims are killed by intimate partners—27 by current partners, 24 by spouses, 10 by former partners, and one by a former spouse. Yet the next most common category is women killed by their sons, a fact that challenges common perceptions about the nature of domestic violence.
The Lorain case has left neighbors and friends in shock. Missy Reed, a close friend of the victim, shared her disbelief with News 5: "I wanted to know if it was true. I didn’t believe something like that. I would have never thought, not in a million years, I would have never thought." Reed remembered her friend as an amazing person and mother who had helped her find work at a local gas station and supported her through challenging times. "She was an amazing person, an amazing friend, an amazing sister, an amazing mom, just all around amazing," Reed said, her voice heavy with grief.
For some in the community, the pain is all too familiar. Dale Linder, who lives just a block away, recalled the loss of his own sons, Dale Jr. and Justin, who were fatally shot at their home in 2012 by a cousin. "It always hits in the back of your head, something reminds you of them," Linder told News 5. As the neighborhood once again faces the aftermath of violence, Linder expressed hope that the victim’s family would receive the support they need. "I just hope the family over there… someone can give them some help. Some people need counseling," he said.
The Femicide Census report highlights not only the prevalence of son-to-mother violence but also the challenges families face in seeking help. One mother from the Midlands, interviewed by the BBC, described years of escalating abuse from her autistic teenage son. Despite more than 60 police call-outs and the installation of CCTV cameras in their home, the Crown Prosecution Service declined to prosecute, citing a lack of public interest. The violence eventually forced the family to place their son in care after an incident that left his mother fearing for her life. "She was on the floor, being stepped on, from head to foot," the boy’s stepfather recounted.
Dr. Ingala Smith noted that many victims of such abuse may not recognize it as domestic violence, and support services often fail to address the unique dynamics of child-to-parent violence. "Women who are victims of this abuse may not recognize it as a form of domestic violence and abuse and may not think that existing support services will be available to them," she said. "In fact, sometimes they are right; too few services such as the police, health, local authority homelessness and even domestic violence and abuse services adequately recognize the extent and potential severity of son-to-mother violence and do not have specialists with tailored support to deal with it."
The issue is compounded by legal and policy gaps. In England, there is currently no statutory duty to support families facing child-to-parent violence, and the law does not recognize domestic violence perpetrated by children under 16. Nikki Rutter, a researcher at Durham University, explained to the BBC that early intervention is rare: "They deal with the problem when it reaches crisis, rather than to prevent it." Parents, she said, often cry out for help for years, only to be told that nothing can be done.
Adoptive families face their own set of challenges. The Femicide Census found that far fewer women are killed by adopted sons than by biological sons—three compared to 172 in earlier studies. Dr. Ingala Smith suggested this may be because biological mothers find it especially difficult to "close the door" on their child, even in the face of violence. One adoptive mother from northern England described living in fear of her daughter's violent outbursts, hiding kitchen knives and requesting respite care for years, only to be offered parenting courses. Eventually, she made the painful decision to return her daughter to care. "I gave up everything in my life for my child, and it was not enough," she said.
The government has acknowledged the scale of the crisis. On September 2, 2025, Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, declared the issue a "national emergency" and pledged to reduce violence against women and girls by half over the next decade. "That is why we are pledging to reduce violence against women and girls in a decade, including tackling child-to-parent abuse through effective systems to ensure problematic behaviors and victims are identified early, and services respond effectively to stop harmful behavior before it continues or gets worse," Phillips stated. The government also plans to improve policing and criminal justice responses to domestic abuse, aiming to protect more victims and punish more perpetrators.
Back in Lorain, the investigation into what led to the fatal shooting continues. Police have asked anyone with information to contact the Lorain Police Detective Bureau. Meanwhile, friends like Reed are left to mourn and search for answers. "Sunday night I literally cried myself to sleep, shut my phone off just for a couple of hours, just so I could wake up and it be a nightmare," she said. "I have to be sleeping. I never would have imagined her being gone."
As these stories show, the intersection of family, violence, and the failure of systems to intervene early enough leaves lasting scars—not just on victims, but on entire communities. The challenge now is to heed the warnings, recognize the signs, and ensure that help is available before tragedy strikes again.
