Fatal child neglect

This study examined the circumstances associated with fatal child neglect in one state to differentiate fatal child neglect from fatal physical abuse and from other types of neglect that are not life-threatening. The typical neglect fatality was a male child, younger than three, living with his mother and two or three siblings. The fatalities from physical abuse were characterized by deliberate, hostile acts on the part of a caregiver, but in the vast majority of fatalities from neglect, a caregiver was simply not there at a critical moment.