Death has always been key to the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI, with a small main ensemble, Aaron “Hotch” Hotchner (Thomas Gibson), David Rossi (Joe Mantegna), Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster), Jennifer “JJ” Jareau (A.J. Cook), Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness), Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore) and Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), remaining throughout most of the original run. When the series was revived in 2022 as Criminal Minds: Evolution, Luke Alvez (Adam Rodriguez) and Tara Lewis (Aisha Tyler) retained their roles.

Regardless of who was part of the BAU at any given time, the team went up against many terrifying unsubs in Criminal Minds. Before Criminal Minds: Evolution, each episode typically opened with a murder or some kind of violent incident to set up the episodic antagonist. While practically every unsub left with a considerable number of deaths under their belt, most of the characters who were murdered throughout Criminal Minds were largely unknown. Unfortunately, the crime procedural proved that no character (nor their loved ones) was truly safe over the years.

8 Emily Prentiss

Season 6, Episode 18

When Emily Prentiss ed the BAU in Criminal Minds season 2, there was no indication that her backstory would be so rich and consequential. Prior to her work at the BAU, Prentiss worked with Interpol to target a terrorist named Ian Doyle (Timothy V. Murphy), a vengeful man with many powerful resources at his disposal. After Doyle escapes prison, he returns to Criminal Minds season 6 to hunt down Prentiss and all of her cohorts. In Criminal Minds season 6, episode 18, Doyle brands Prentiss with a four-leaf clover and stabs her to “death.”

However, it’s quickly revealed that Emily faked her death in Criminal Minds to protect the rest of the team from Doyle’s ire and make it easier in the long run to take him down permanently. Though she eventually returns and reveals the truth to everyone, it doesn’t make her departure any less painful. For months, the BAU (aside from JJ) grieved their friend and coworker, even attending a funeral for her. Though heartbreaking, her temporary “death” was far worse for the oblivious characters than the audience.

7 Matt Spicer

Season 5, Episode 23

Tim Curry’s appearance as Criminal Minds’ Prince of Darkness killer (Billy Flynn) made for a spine-chilling two-parter, but Detective Matt Spicer (Eric Close) was made into a tragic martyr. When Spicer was a child, Billy Flynn forced him to watch as he sexually assaulted his mother and killed both of his parents. Spicer repressed the traumatic experience and became a police detective until the events of Criminal Minds season 5, episode 23 forced him to confront the truth.

Decades later, after Flynn replicated his old murders specifically to taunt Spicer, Morgan tried to save the detective and his family. Sadly, the Prince of Darkness brutally murdered Spicer in front of Morgan and took his daughter. Though Spicer succumbed to his injuries, Morgan and the rest of the team succeeded in rescuing his daughter and taking Billy Flynn down. Yet, Spicer suddenly ing such a traumatic night, only to die while fearing for his daughter’s safety, is an unimaginable fate.

6 Erin Strauss

Season 8, Episode 24

Although she was initially a nuisance to the BAU, Erin Strauss (Jayne Atkinson) slowly redeemed herself until her death in Criminal Minds season 8. Strauss was the BAU’s section chief, and though she seemed cold and unfeeling in the beginning, she began to show her humanity and affinity to the BAU over the years. In season 7, Morgan and Hotch even help Strauss seek proper help for her alcoholism.

The peace doesn’t last for long, as John Curtis (Mark Hamill), aka The Replicator, is introduced with a vendetta against the FBI (specifically Strauss) in Criminal Minds season 8. Having stalked the team for so long, Curtis knew exactly how to attack the BAU, including killing Strauss by forcing her to relapse and drink poisoned wine. It’s a particularly malicious murder method from one of Criminal Minds' most disturbing unsubs and underscores how much Strauss grew and changed, only to die so easily.

5 Stephen Shepherd

Season 5, Episode 16

“Mosley Lane,” one of the most iconic Criminal Minds episodes directed by Matthew Gray Gubler, lives in infamy for the pure depravity of its unsubs and the tragedy of its victims. Roger (Bud Cort) and Anita Roycewood (Beth Grant) had the harrowing M.O. of kidnapping children every year, killing off the victims who grew too old or too disobedient. During Criminal Minds season 5, episode 16, a hostage named Stephen Shepherd (Austin Mincks) died as a young hero.

Stephen died while protecting another child abducted by the Roycewoods, giving his life for the other’s freedom. One of the survivors met Stephen’s parents, who wanted answers about what happened to their child and how old he lived to be. The survivor explained he died during the episode, leading to one of the most haunting lines of the series: “He was alive yesterday?” To know your child was kidnapped and held hostage for years but died just before being rescued is one of the most harrowing moments for any character in Criminal Minds.

4 Jason Gideon

Season 10, Episode 13

Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin) was an original member of the BAU and the main character throughout the first two seasons of Criminal Minds. Gideon was Reid’s mentor, Rossi’s close friend, and a genius who helped solve countless cases for the BAU. After his girlfriend’s murder, however, Gideon retires from the FBI in Criminal Minds season 3. Though he’s never seen again in person, Gideon returns to the narrative when he’s murdered in Criminal Minds season 10.

Long after he left the BAU, a serial killer targeted the former unit chief, and Gideon was murdered with three gunshot wounds. Morgan and Rossi investigate the death, eventually tracking down the unsub and saving his final victim. Rossi even avenges Gideon by killing the unsub rather than arresting him. The aftermath was difficult for everyone in the BAU, but such a beloved character suddenly dying off-screen was a whiplash-inducing twist for long-time viewers.

3 Will LaMontagne

Season 18, Episode 2

Though there were few stable relationships in Criminal Minds, JJ and Will LaMontagne (Josh Stewart) were the exception. After meeting in Criminal Minds season 2, the pair’s love story kicks off. The two get married, have children, and seem to live happily ever after by the end of Criminal Minds season 15. Unfortunately, Criminal Minds: Evolution brought JJ and Will back to the forefront with the saddest storyline possible.

Though a brief health scare is written off as a false alarm in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 1, Will suddenly dies from an aneurysm in “The Zookeeper.” Though abrupt, Will’s death in Criminal Minds: Evolution has already had lasting ramifications for JJ and her family. An entire episode was dedicated to Will’s funeral and the fallout of his ing, with JJ’s grief on full display. Out of everything the continuation has done so far, killing off such a well-known character and breaking up its most stable family is divisive.

2 Maeve Donovan

Season 8, Episode 12

As the resident awkward genius, Reid didn't get many love interests in Criminal Minds. The most serious relationship he had throughout the series was a 10-month correspondence with Maeve Donovan (Beth Riesgraf), a doctor he began interacting with before season 8. Though they exchanged letters and phone calls, Maeve and Reid couldn’t openly meet or get together because Maeve had a stalker. Reid's best Criminal Minds episodes, their relationship comes to a dramatic end.

After Maeve is taken hostage by her stalker in Criminal Minds season 8, episode 12, Reid and the rest of the BAU zero in on their location. Reid appears in time for the stalker to enact her grand plan, as Maeve dies in a murder-suicide before the stalker can be apprehended. Reid never had a love interest after Maeve, and her death haunted the character throughout the rest of the original series.

1 Haley Brooks

Season 5, Episode 9

By far, the most impactful main character death was also the first: Haley Brooks (Meredith Monroe) was Hotch’s ex-wife and mother to his son, Jack. When Criminal Minds’ most memorable unsub, The Reaper (C. Thomas Howell’s George Foyet), targets Hotch and his loved ones, Haley is caught in the crossfire. In the 100th episode of Criminal Minds, Foyet taunts Hotch by threatening Haley and Jack’s lives.

Though Hotch arrives in time to stop Foyet from finding his son, Haley’s corpse was waiting for him. Hotch may overpower Foyet in the end and kill him, but there are no winners in such a tragic situation. Haley’s death changed Criminal Minds forever, and the success of her storyline may be what enabled the crime drama to subsequently kill off more iconic characters. Yet, no major death in Criminal Minds comes close to Haley’s.

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