Stories of children who kill other children are a painful reality.

It seems impossible but stories of children who kill other children are a painful reality for the people of Australia.

It was only in 2006 when two young Perth girls decided to kill their friend Eliza Jane Davis just because they’d woken up with the idea.

The story of Davis gripped the nation as they mourned for the 15-year-old victim of such a devastating crime.

Davis had been flipping through a school yearbook when she was approached by her two friends.

In a series of brutal movements, the girls grabbed her, shoved a chemically soaked rag into her mouth mouth, wrapped her neck in a speaker wire and pulled until she choked to her death.

It seems impossible to think they dragged her body beneath the house, buried it in a shallow grave and then helped the family look for her when she went missing.

It seems impossible but it’s all too real.

The original reportage by Sydney Morning Herald reveals the chilling explanations the killers gave in their police interviews.

“Sunday morning me and (her) woke up, and we were just talking, and for some reason we just decided to kill her,” one said.

“We just did it because we felt like it, it is hard to explain,” the other girl said.

“We knew it was wrong, but it didn’t feel wrong at all, it just felt right.”

The two unnamed girls were given sentences of 15 years to life and are currently serving in Bandyup Women’s Prison in north-eastern Perth.

The story of Davis may sound horrific but it is not unique. There are over 40 cases where children have killed other children and seven of those are Australian.

Australian authors Gabrielle O’Reily and Liz Frame recently released a book that delves into the tales of children who kill others.

Deadly Games: Kids Who Kill Kids discusses not just the cases but also the methods behind the madness.

“The abhorrent crime of young children deliberately killing a toddler struck a chord with society,” the authors write.

“We were shocked … we had progressed to the stage where a young child could be ruthlessly killed by other children … because of our innate belief that children are born good.”

“[But] children or young teenagers have been killing other children for centuries and will likely continue to do so into the future.”

The book categorises killers into three sections:

The first is the ‘thrill killer’: the kind of killers who enjoy not just the final act but the torture that comes beforehand.

The second are the killers who target out of emotional reasons such as anger, jealousy, hurt or annoyance.

The third group are the school shooters who the authors believe involves ‘killing specific targets out of anger, hurt or wounded pride.’

The murder of Davis falls into the ‘thrill killer’ – as do four other horrific Australian cases of children killing children.

The motivations behind each kill may be unique but the tragedy felt by the families on either side is truly universal.