As the family of one of Brianna Ghey’s killers express devastation over their daughter’s actions, we ask whether killers’ parents deserve our sympathy
What happens
It’s a crime that has shocked the country. In February 2023, Brianna Ghey, a 16-year-old transgender student, was lured to a local park and killed by murder-obsessed schoolmate Scarlett Jenkinson, then 15, and her transphobic accomplice Eddie Ratcliffe, also 15. The killers, who have had their anonymity waived and both been jailed for life, killed Brianna with a hunting knife in broad daylight after months of meticulous planning.
Her mother Esther has bravely spoken out not only to express her despair at the loss of her child, but also to urge ‘empathy and compassion’ towards the parents of her daughter’s killers. ‘She’s gone through something so unimaginable as well, and has also lost a child,’ Esther said of Scarlett Jenkinson’s mother. Scarlett, despite growing up with ‘devoted parents’, became obsessed with serial killers and trawled the dark web for sadistic content, and it’s clear how horrified her mother was at discovering the truth about her daughter. In a statement, Scarlett’s family said, ‘All of our thoughts are for Brianna and her family. The last 12 months have been beyond our worst nightmares as we have come to realise the brutal truth of Scarlett’s actions. We agree with the jury’s verdict, the judge’s sentence and the decision to name the culprits.’ At times of unthinkable tragedy, our thoughts go straight to the victims and their loved ones. But the impact is felt by those close to perpetrators too, often leaving the families of killers bereft. So what really happens when parents discover their child has done the unimaginable? Woman investigates.
‘WE CAN’T EXPECT TO BE IN TOTAL CONTROL OF OUR KIDS’
Dr Marianne Trent is a clinical psychologist and author of The Grief Collection.
How does a parent come to terms with the fact that their child is a killer? It’s something a lot of us have wondered since the heinous murder of Brianna Ghey. Although I haven’t worked on this particular case, as a clinical psychologist this question comes up a lot in my work. Dealing with something as emotionally complex as discovering your child is a murderer is a process similar to that of grief. From early stages of disbelief, yearning and bargaining, they
