In a tragic and horrifying event that unfolded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one-year-old David J. Dempsey, a white male, became the youngest victim in a familicide that shocked the city. On December 23, 1934, David, along with his father Walter Dempsey and siblings Robert, Thomas, and Walter Jr., was killed at the hands of his own aunt, Kathryn Schoch.
The devastating incident was rooted in Schoch's profound grief and deteriorating mental state following the recent death of her own
child. In an act of unimaginable violence, she traveled from her home in Dunkirk, New York, to the Dempsey family residence in Pittsburgh. There, she carried out the murders of her young nephew David and other members of his immediate family. After the killings, Schoch returned to Dunkirk where she ended her own life by ingesting poison the next day.
The only survivor of the massacre was David's mother, Clara Dempsey, who was discovered with a bullet wound but managed to survive the attack. The investigation into the multiple homicides concluded that Kathryn Schoch acted alone, driven by her grief. With the perpetrator deceased, the case was closed, leaving a sorrowful and haunting chapter in the city's history. The case resulted in no arrests or trials, as the sole suspect had taken her own life.
