
Filicide is the act of a parent killing his or her son or daughter. The word filicide comes from the Latin words filius meaning "son" or filia meaning "daughter" and the suffix -cide meaning "to kill, murder or cause death".
Famous cases of filicides include Peter the Great, who had his son Alexei tortured and killed; Wu Zetian, who is said to have killed her own daughter to frame her lover's wife; and Susan Smith, who murdered her two sons.