by Randi Henderson

About the author: Randi Henderson, a freelance writer in Maryland, is a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun. She frequently writes on medical, social, and psychological issues.

Editor’s note: The names of the children interviewed for this article have been changed to protect their privacy.

Shakeela is six years old, and what she remembers most about walking into the room where her dead aunt’s body lay was the blood.

“When I went in the house and I saw my Aunt Julie, I saw the blood dryin’ up,” she says, looking down at her small hands clasped on the table in front of her and describing what she knows about her aunt’s murder by her uncle last year. “He was tryin’ to scare her, but he...