Josephine Hill: Violent 6-Year-Old Who Liked to Attack Other Children – New York, 1897

FULL TEXT (Article 1 of 3): New York, April 7. – Josephine Hill, 6 years old, tortured a baby until it went into convulsions, and then with impudent grimaces confessed every thing to the detectives. Josephine was arraigned in the Jefferson Market Police Court this afternoon. She holds the record as the youngest female prisoner. The baby that she used so cruelly was there, its poor little face marked with scratches and its eyes black and half closed. The girl lives at 147 West Twenty-fourth street. It was learned at the school that Josie had stabbed a girl with a hat-pin day before yesterday, and this morning she bit two other girls in the face. Under the law the child is not responsible for her acts, therefore cannot be punished. Magistrate Crane remanded her to the care of the Gerry Society.

[“Tortures a Baby – A Six-Year-Old New York Girl Ill Treats an Infant Until It Has Convulsions,” The Times (Philadelphia, Pa.), Apr. 6, 1897, p. 1]

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FULL TEXT (Article 2 of 3): Josephine Hill, a 6-yrear-old is under arrest in New York City for torturing a baby until it went into convulsions. She scratched its face, blacked its eyes and pulled out its hair. This is the youngest prisoner ever jailed in New York City and the authorities are puzzled to know what to do with her. After the infant had been maltreated it was learned that at school she had stabbed a companion with a hat pin and bitten teo other girls in the face. The little thing is evidently a female Jesse Pomeroy. For the safety of children she should be chloroformed.

[Untitled, The Daily Missoulian (Mt.), Apr. 15, 1897, p. 2]

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FULL TEXT (Article 3 of 3): Josephine Hill, a 6-year-old girl in New York, has been arrested for torturing a baby. Before she she tacked the baby she stabbed another little girkl with a hat-pin and bit two other girls. When Josephine grows up she will male a lovely wife for some man.

[Untitled, The Buffalo Enquirer (N. Y.), Apr. 9, 1897, p. 4]

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More cases: Youthful Borgias: Girls Who Commit Murder 

 

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