By Adiel Kaplan, Kate Snow and Eric Salzman (NBC News)
In the past five years, at least two dozen similar cases — in which a parent killed a child after the other parent raised concerns about abuse during a custody dispute — have made headlines across the country. There’s no official government tally of these deaths and no national data on how courts handle custody cases with abuse allegations. But experts say in every state, judges have significant power in custody cases and their decisions are rarely overturned. The judges overseeing these cases, however, are often untrained in the dynamics of abuse and trauma or how to evaluate whether a child could be in danger.

More on Abusers getting custody: Silberg, J., & Dallam, S. J. (2019). Abusers gaining custody in family courts: A case series of over turned decisions. Journal of Child Custody, 16(2), 140-169.