media attention

It is likely that a death of this kind will be picked up by local or national press. It is also likely that it may  be shared across social media platforms, resulting in additional comments from strangers. This type of attention can be very intrusive, particularly if the press are keen to speak with friends and relatives. Children may find it particularly hard to deal with this kind of intrusion if staff and pupils at their school are talking about what happened. 

Police investigation

As with any crime, there will be an investigation into what happened. Although this is an important necessity in finding answers, the process of an investigation may be a lengthy one and the pressure of dealing with the various elements can bring additional stress and potentially delay or complicate grieving. It can also be challenging for families as they try to protect children from the details of these proceedings. 

When the perpetrator is known

If the perpetrator is a family member this can cause a range of mixed and conflicting emotions. For children who may have had a close relationship with the perpetrator they will be dealing with the confusion of having love for the person, mixed with the negative feelings about what they have done. For very young children who may not fully understand what has happened, they may continue to ask to see the perpetrator or say they miss them, if they were a significant part of their life. 

Where a parent has been killed by the other parent, on top of the emotional confusion there will be the additional complications of who now looks after the children as neither parent will now be present.