6-Year-Old Boy Hangs Himself Over Parents’ Divorce

A 6-year-old boy hung himself in his family kitchen’s while his mother and stepfather were showering.

The boy’s 7-year-old sister found him hanging from the freezer door and screamed for her parents. The parents rushed down and started performing CPR on the boy until the paramedics arrived. Unfortunately, they were unable to revive him.

Police Chief Mark Clark said that investigators were unable to determine if the young boy intentionally killed himself, but interviews with relatives and school records showed that he was angry over his parents’ divorce two years ago.

Mental health professional Lucas Hooker said that situations like this can be very difficult to understand, especially when a very young child is involved.

Hooker said that some children lack the verbal and cognitive abilities to express their emotions properly and may lash out.

“If a parent’s gut is telling them that something is wrong, they need to follow that,” Hooker said. “It’s also important for people to know if there has been a prior suicide in the family or if the child is actually verbalizing suicide to get help. If there’s a family history of suicide, the odds of the child being suicidal jump exponentially.”

Unfortunately, this is not the first time a very young child has committed suicide. In May 2012, a 7-year-old Detroit boy was found hanging from the railing of a bunk bed by his 14-year-old sister.

The 7-year-old boy was reportedly bullied a lot in school and was upset over his recent separation from his father. His mother told police that he talked about harming himself before and was seeing a pastor to help him cope.

Neighbor Harold Pleasant was devastated when he found out what happened.

“I’m going to be devastated about this if God don’t take it away from me because I can’t think of nothing else,” he said. “I don’t know how a kid that age can come to the conclusion to kill himself.”

Do you think the 6-year-old boy only hung himself over his parents’ divorce? Or do you believe he had more underlying issues?

[Image via Shuttershock]