Infanticide Law and Legal Definition
Infanticide refers to the act of killing of a newborn child. Infanticide is usually committed by the parents or with their consent. It is also known as child destruction or neonaticide. In criminal law, infanticide is not considered a separate and distinct offense, except where made so by statute, but is merely descriptive of a homicide, the subject of which is a newborn child. Regardless of the cause, throughout history infanticide has been common. Infanticide has been practiced on every continent and by people on every level of cultural complexity, from hunter gatherers to high civilizations. Hence, infanticide is not a unique crime requiring a different application of the corpus delicti rule.[Wallace v. State, 10 Tex. Ct. App. 255 (Tex. Crim. App. 1881)].
