Relationship between substance use, drug selling, and lethal violence in 25 juvenile murderers

The goal of the present study was to determine the relationship between sub stance use, drug selling, and lethal violence in adolescent male homicide o ffenders and their victims. The study employed a retrospective review of cr iminal justice databases and medical examiner records for murders committed by 25 adolescent males incarcerated in the Commonwealth of Virginia juveni le correctional centers from February 1992 to July 1996. The perpetrator sa mple was 84% African American and 16% white. The average age at the time of the offense was 15.0 years (range = 13.0 to 17.7 years). The Victims were 84% male, 60% African American and 32% white. The median victim age was 28. 0 years (mean = 34.8, range = 17 months to 75 years). The results indicated that 52% of the murders were committed by juveniles with identified involv ement in drug selling, and 28% of the murders were drag-related. Toxicology results indicated recent drug or alcohol use in 27% of the victims; while 74% of the perpetrators reported substance use, 35% indicating daily use. U sing discriminant analysis, it was possible to accurately classify 86% of t he drug-related murders with the variables of recent victim drug use and pe rpetrator substance use history. The results indicated that adolescent male s involved in the sale and distribution of illegal drugs comprised a signif icant percentage of those incarcerated for murder. Recent victim drug use a nd perpetrator substance use may be important variables in identifying drug -related juvenile homicides. These results underscore the link between subs tance use, drug selling, and lethal violence.