History Main / AccidentalChildKillerBackstory

Universally results in the character thinking MyGodWhatHaveIDone If the child's death was a FailureToSaveMurder, the person responsible [[ILetGwenStacyDie Let Gwen Stacy Die]]. If the death was due to laziness, its a case of LethalNegligence. Sometimes they MustMakeAmends, possibly through a RedemptionQuest.

* In ''Theatre/TheMousetrap,'' [[spoiler:it's revealed that the SerialKiller using [[IronicNurseryRhyme "Three Blind Mice"]] as a CallingCard is targeting a trio of individuals connected to a past tragedy: three children were sent to live with foster parents, only to be horrifically abused to the point of one dying. Of the "three blind mice" who the murderer intends to kill, the first two are directly responsible for the tragedy: Maureen Lyon, the children's foster mother, and Mrs. Boyle, the magistrate who ordered the children sent to the farm seemingly without doing due diligence on whether it was a safe home (and was cold and unrepentant in the aftermath). The third, however, was merely caught up in a horrible coincidence: Mollie Ralston was the children's schoolteacher, and as she was actually one of the few adults in their lives who showed them kindness, the boy who died decided to reach out to her for help. Shortly before his death, he managed to send her a letter telling her of the abuse he and his siblings were enduring, but in a [[ForWantOfANail cruel twist of fate]], Mollie developed pneumonia on the day the letter was delivered and consequently didn't see said letter until she returned to school following her recovery from the illness, by which point the child was already dead. She admits that she has been haunted by the incident all her life and [[ItsAllMyFault blames herself]] for what happened.]]

* ''Film/AWalkAmongTheTombstones'': This is the reason protagonist Matthew Scudder quit his job as a cop and gave up alcohol because a stray shot from his gun during a shootout killed a little girl.

* ''Film/DieHard'': Officer Al Powell shot and killed a child [[ShootHimHeHasAWallet whom he believed was holding a gun.]] He gets his [[MyGreatestSecondChance second chance]] by saving [=McClane=] at the end of the movie.

* The ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "Mr. Monk Meets Dale the Whale" has Dr. Christiaan Vezza -- or, to use his real name, Glenn Q. Sindell, a disgraced former surgeon who inadvertently killed a child by operating while high out of his mind on drugs. Sindell jumped bail and tried to start a new life for himself, only for [[EvilGenius Dale]] [[FatBastard "the Whale"]] [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Biederbeck III]] to learn the secret and use it to blackmail him into following his every order, including committing a murder. At the end of the episode, Sindell decides to turn states' evidence against Dale to [[TheAtoner atone for his crimes.]]

* In ''Theatre/TheMousetrap,'' [[spoiler:it's revealed that the SerialKiller using [[IronicNurseryRhyme "Three Blind Mice"]] as a CallingCard is targeting a trio of individuals connected to a past tragedy: three children were sent to live with foster parents, only to be horrifically abused to the point of one dying. Of the "three blind mice" who the murderer intends to kill, the first two are directly responsible for the tragedy: Maureen Lyon, the children's foster mother, and Mrs. Boyle, the magistrate who ordered the children sent to the farm (and was cold and unrepentant in the aftermath). The third, however, was merely caught up in a horrible coincidence: Mollie Ralston was the children's schoolteacher, and as she was actually one of the few adults in their lives who showed them kindness, the boy who died decided to reach out to her for help. Shortly before his death, he managed to send her a letter telling her of the abuse he and his siblings were enduring, but in a [[ForWantOfANail cruel twist of fate]], Mollie developed pneumonia on the day the letter was delivered and consequently didn't see said letter until she returned to school following her recovery from the illness, by which point the child was already dead. She admits that she has been haunted by the incident all her life and [[ItsAllMyFault blames herself]] for what happened.]]

* In ''Theatre/TheMousetrap,'' [[spoiler:it's revealed that the SerialKiller using [[IronicNurseryRhyme "Three Blind Mice"]] as a CallingCard is targeting a trio of individuals connected to a past tragedy: three children were sent to live with foster parents, only to be horrifically abused to the point of one dying. Of the "three blind mice" who the murderer intends to kill, the first two are directly responsible for the tragedy: Maureen Lyon, the children's foster mother, and Mrs. Boyle, the magistrate who ordered the children sent to the farm (and was cold and unrepentant in the aftermath).
The third, however, was merely caught up in a horrible coincidence: Mollie Ralston was the children's schoolteacher, and as she was actually one of the few adults in their lives who showed them kindness, the boy who died decided to reach out to her for help. Shortly before his death, he managed to send her a letter telling her of the abuse he and his siblings were enduring, but in a [[ForWantOfANail cruel twist of fate]], Mollie developed pneumonia on the day the letter was delivered and consequently didn't see said letter until she returned to school following her recovery from the illness, by which point the child was already dead. She admits that she has been haunted by the incident all her life and [[ItsAllMyFault blames herself]] for what happened.]]

* In ''Theatre/TheMousetrap,'' [[spoiler:it's revealed that the SerialKiller using [[IronicNurseryRhyme "Three Blind Mice"]] as a CallingCard is targeting a trio of individuals connected to a past tragedy: three children were sent to live with foster parents, only to be horrifically abused to the point of one dying. The "three blind mice" who the murderer intends to kill are Maureen Lyon, the children's foster mother; Mrs. Boyle, the magistrate who ordered the children sent to the farm; and Mollie Ralston, who is perhaps the best fit for this trope: she was the children's schoolteacher, and the boy who died managed to send her a letter detailing what was happening. But in a [[ForWantOfANail cruel twist of fate]], Mollie developed pneumonia on the day the letter was delivered and didn't see it until she returned to the school, by which point the child was already dead. She admits that she has been haunted by the incident all her life and [[ItsAllMyFault blames herself]] for what happened.]]

* ''Series/{{House}}'': In "Emancipation", House's teenage patient needs a bone marrow transplant from a family member, but she lies about her identity to avoid seeing her parents. House guesses that something happened that makes her think she doesn't deserve to live, so she confesses that she ran away from home because her little brother drowned in the bathtub when she was supposed to be looking after him. She assumes her parents must hate her, but House convinces her to call them by pointing out they really will hate her if she lets herself die.

* ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'': Before becoming the Manhattan Guardian, Jake Jordan was a police officer who quit the force after shooting an unarmed teenager whom he had mistaken for the man who murdered his partner.

* In Theo's backstory in ''Literature/ChildrenOfMen'', he inadvertently ran over his own daughter while backing out of the driveway. His then-wife never forgave him, and he does not seem to have ever forgiven himself either. (This happens only in the book; in the film, his child, a son, died in an epidemic.)