OCA: Youth suicides, fatalities increased in 2024

Connecticut Inside Investigator – Friday, August 29, 2025
By Brandon Whiting

According to the Office of the Child Advocate (OCA), 2024 saw a doubling in youth suicides and a significant increase in accidental deaths of children.

“From January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024, 83 child fatalities were determined to be Accidents, Homicides, Suicides or Undetermined,” read the report. “2024 marked an increase in preventable deaths of children, about 26% more than the total in 2023.”

Each year, the Child Fatality Review Panel (CFRP) reviews child deaths that occur due to, “unexpected or unexplained causes,” for the purpose of finding and reporting, “patterns of risk to children.” The panel is co-chaired by Christina Ghio, the state’s Acting Child Advocate, and Dr. Kristen Bechtel, an emergency-room pediatrician at Yale New Haven Hospital.

Of the 83 child fatalities reviewed by the CFRP last year, 37 died by accident, 16 died by homicide, 14 died by suicide, and 16 died by undetermined causes. The report explained that undetermined deaths are any in which “there is no sufficient degree of medical certainty to determine the cause of death.”

The 14 child suicides that occurred in 2024 are more than double 2023’s total number of 6. 2024 ties with 2021 for having the most yearly child suicides since 2020. The report notes that Connecticut does not face the issue of rising child suicide rates alone; per the CDC, child suicide is now the second leading cause of death among children nationwide from 2018-2023. The report also stated that more than 16 children per day in Connecticut seek treatment at emergency rooms for suicidal ideation or suicide attempts. The report noted that ten of last year’s 14 suicides occurred last summer.

“The state of Connecticut lost 10 children to suicide within 3 months, an unprecedented stretch of loss,” read the report. “These children died from a variety of means, lived in all corners of the state, had varied genders and racial/ethnic makeups, and ranged in age from 13-17.”

The report notes that of these children, some had previously documented mental health struggles while others had “no history of treatment,” they came from suburban, urban and rural backgrounds alike, and that they came from families of varying income levels.

“The shared constant is that these were lives lost too early,” read the report.

Regarding accidental deaths, the report notes that the 2024 total marks a 28% increase from 2023. It defined accidental deaths as ones in which “there is little or no evidence that the injury occurred from intent to harm.” CFRP found that more than half of 2024’s accidental deaths occurred in children younger than six.

Of the 37 accidental deaths, 13 were caused by motor vehicle accidents, nine were caused by positional asphyxia, six were caused by smoke inhalation and four were caused by drowning. Acute intoxication, smoke inhalation, and dog attacks accounted for two child deaths, each, and one other child died due to choking.

The report paid special attention to sleep-related deaths, which it notes as being the cause of over a quarter of the state’s unexpected or non-natural child deaths in the past decade.

“Connecticut persistently continues to see infants die from unsafe and modifiable sleep related causes, with numbers fluctuating from 17 to 23 infant deaths each year (a future kindergarten class of children),” read the report. “These deaths are classified by the Medical Examiner as either Undetermined or Accidental manners of death.”

In 2024, 9 children under the age of 1 were found to have died as a result of positional asphyxia, which the report defined as “the insufficient intake of oxygen when breathing, most frequently the result of a compromised airway due to co-sleeping in an adult sleep space.” The report also noted that amongst 2024’s 16 undetermined child deaths (of which the median age was 7 months), 15 of them occurred in the presence of potentially hazardous sleeping arrangements.

“Most often case review identifies modifiable risk factors in the infant’s sleep environment, such as the baby being in an adult-sized bed, in an adult-sized bed with other children, or in their own sleep environment but with blankets, pillows, etc,” said the report of undetermined deaths. “These risk factors are typically referred to collectively as an ‘unsafe sleep environment.’ Unlike accidental deaths where unsafe sleep conditions are definitively established, autopsy and scene investigation may identify unsafe sleep risk factors such as those listed above, but positional asphyxia or lay-over is not conclusively determined.”

On the subject of sleep-related deaths, the report stated that CFRP, “will continue efforts to curb these deaths through partnership with the newly created Infant Mortality Review Committee.” On the issue of child suicide, the report noted that OCA and CFRP will, “continue to work with statewide and national partners in identifying risk factors and strategies to keep our youth safe and our systems informed.”

“Consistent messaging from the panel of experts stressed the need for engagement and communication with our youth about the critical importance of recognizing mental health warning signs and ensuring that youth have an appropriate outlet to share those feelings,” read the report. “Normalizing conversations regarding mental health and feelings of self harm has proven to be a productive and effective means of minimizing risk.”

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