This story is about suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
A Belgian woman who was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of her five children 16 years ago reportedly died Tuesday after choosing to be euthanized.
Genevieve Lhermitte, 56, slits her children’s throats on February 28, 2007 at her home in Nivelles, Belgium.
Her children were then 3, 7, 10, 12 and 14 years old. Her father, Bouchaib Moqadem, was in Morocco to visit his family when she murdered them.
Lhermitte tried to kill himself after the murders but failed and called emergency services for help.
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Genevieve Lhermitte, 56, chose to be euthanized in Belgium exactly 16 years after she murdered all five of her children between the ages of 3 and 14. (Dirk Waem/AFP via Getty Images and this is for the woman – Olivier Papegnies-Bert Van Den B/via Getty Images)
Her lawyers argued during her trial that she was mentally ill. In 2019 she was transferred to a psychiatric hospital.
According to BBC News, the decision to die by euthanasia is legal in Belgium if a person is of sound mind and is in “excruciating” physical and psychological pain without recourse.
Almost 3,000 people were euthanized in Belgium last year, with terminal cancer being the most common reason.
Bouchaib Moqadem, the father of the murdered children, was visiting his family in Morocco when Genevieve Lhermitte killed them. (Dirk Waem/AFP via Getty Images)
“It is this specific procedure that Ms. Lhermitte followed after the various medical reports were obtained,” her attorney said of her decision.
Lhermitte died 16 years to the day after killing her children.
Psychologist Emilie Maroit told a local Belgian TV station that the decision to die on February 28 was probably a “symbolic gesture of respect for her children”.
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“It was maybe also her turn to finish what she started because she basically wanted to end her life when she killed her,” he said, according to the BBC.