Parricide, as defined by the New Oxford American Dictionary, is a noun meaning "the killing of a parent or other near relative".
According to statistics, in the United States, about five parents are killed every week by their biological children. Matricide and patricide are both particularly rare occurrences when stood up against other murder statistics. While it only makes up about 1% of all homicides in the United States, it is still a shocking crime when it happens. Primarily, parricide is committed by the sons of the parents, ages 16 to 19. This aligns with makes being the primary perpetrators of all violent crime. Patricide is also twice as likely to be committed as a matricide. All in all, according to the statistics, male sons are more likely to kill their fathers when it comes to parricide. This knowledge is part of what makes the case of Tabitha Messina particularly disturbing.