I think it should be upheld when the crime is so horrific that death is the punishment.
Read this story of an innocent 6 year old that was found dead on Christmas Day.
I have shortened it for your convenience. On the flip side...tell me what you think
A woman and her boyfriend were charged with three counts each of first-degree murder on Tuesday, two days after her 6-year-old son was found beaten to death in their house in Cahokia.
Authorities discovered the lifeless body of Lohman’s son, Ryan Smith, on the floor of a bedroom in the couple’s house after Lohman called 911. St. Clair County Coroner Rick Stone said that there had been a “long period of abuse,” culminating in a final, fatal beating on Saturday night.
When authorities answered a call Sunday evening about a little boy being unresponsive, they found no sign of holiday joy or cheer inside the drab, run-down duplex.
No Christmas tree. No presents. Only the bruised, lifeless body of 6-year-old Ryan Smith on a bedroom floor.
An autopsy on Monday disclosed that Ryan had been beaten, probably with hands and fists.
"The autopsy showed, from the bruises on his body, that there had been a long period of abuse," said St. Clair County Coroner Rick Stone. "There were old injuries and obviously new injuries.
"That boy had been beaten like a dog."
Both Ryan's mother Starr Lohman, 24, who had made the 911 call, and her live-in boyfriend have been arrested. Lohman was charged Tuesday with three counts of first degree murder.
Cahokia Police Capt. Norman Venable said he did not know if both adults took part in the beating or why the boy was beaten. "I know what they're (the suspects) saying, but I don't believe them.
"I know that the beating was terrible."
Ryan's 20-month-old younger brother was found unharmed in the home, and he was turned over to a relative, Venable said.
Venable said Ryan had not been attending school or registered in any school. The identity or whereabouts of Ryan's father is unknown, he said.
.
:notsure:
