I don’t think that’s “passive voice”, it’s intentionally choosing a softer word, (though even that may be more of a liability one. Same concept as the media using every word but “children” to describe people killed in Palestine.
Passive voice would be.
“A baby in a car was shot while police were responding to a shoplifting report”.
You are correct. They said he killed the baby. Active voice. Accurate. Not softening the blow very much, arguably a little, but it’s also very easy to argue that their word choice is justified in the pursuit of covering facts.
I don’t think that’s “passive voice”, it’s intentionally choosing a softer word, (though even that may be more of a liability one. Same concept as the media using every word but “children” to describe people killed in Palestine.
Passive voice would be.
“A baby in a car was shot while police were responding to a shoplifting report”.
You are correct. They said he killed the baby. Active voice. Accurate. Not softening the blow very much, arguably a little, but it’s also very easy to argue that their word choice is justified in the pursuit of covering facts.