Mothers who kill their children aren't so uncommon

A mother from Andrew was charged Thursday with first-degree murder in the drowning death of her 4-year-old son, which seems shocking but mothers or parents killing their children happens more often than anybody thinks, even in Iowa.

According to the American Anthropological Association about 200 women kill their children in the United States each year. Three to five children a day are killed by their parents.

Other research shows:

-A parent is the killer in most murders involving children under age 5, according to the Bureau of Justice.

-Of the 53 women currently on death row, 11 killed their children, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

The Jackson County mother, Danielle Holdgrafer, 29, is accused of drowning her adopted son Collin Parker William Holdgrafer in a bathtub in their apartment last Saturday, according to the sheriff's office. Her husband and the boy's adoptive father, Andrew Holdgrafer, 31, is also charged with child endangerment.

Police said Andrew Holdgrafer made a 911 call while taking the boy to the hospital about 5 p.m. The child was taken to Jackson County Regional Health Center, where he was pronounced dead at the hospital. No other details have been released.

The Holdgrafers' are Collin's aunt and uncle. His biological mother Jodi Holdgrafer is serving time in prison for selling cocaine.

Don Damsteegt, psychologist and Mount Mercy College psychology professor, said he couldn't speculate on the Holdgrafer case but in general terms mothers who kill their children are deeply troubled or disturbed.

“There has to be something else going on - like in the Andrea Yates case, which is similar (as far as drowning), she was suffering from postpartum depression,” Damsteegt said. “She had no understanding of right and wrong.”

There have been two other Iowa mothers in recent years who have killed their children – Michelle Kehoe, 36, of Coralville, who was convicted last year and is serving a life prison term for killing her 2-year-old son Seth and attempting to kill her other son 7-year-old Sean in October 2008, and Shannon Steibach, 33, of Schleswig, who hanged herself after killing her 4-month-old daughter Hope in May of 2008.

Kehoe slashed her sons' throats because she wanted to save them from a life of depression that she had suffered, according to trial testimony. She claimed insanity as her defense but the jury convicted her of first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Steinbach hanged herself after drowning her daughter Hope in five to six inches of water in a bathtub. Investigators at the time said they didn't know why she drowned the child

“In the Kehoe case it was less clear of why she did it until during the trial it came out that she had apparently had a long history of depression and had attempted suicide,” Damsteegt said. “Someone with serious depression has a misperception of the situation.”

Damsteegt said another possibility is that the mother is mentally impaired, suffering from schizophrenia and she doesn't understand reality.

“Like in the case of Mark Becker who shot the football coach Ed Thomas last year,” he said. “He just saw Thomas as evil.”

Two psychiatrists testified at trial that Becker suffered from schizophrenia. He claimed insanity at the trial but the jury convicted him of first-degree murder and he is serving a life prison sentence.

Damsteegt said he didn't know if the drowning was symbolic or represented anything. It might be that women in general use weapons less in these kinds of crimes and they are usually the ones who give children baths.

“Does it trigger something? I don't know. There's usually an unconscious reason why people do things,” he said.