Law Should Require Harsher Penalties for Child Murderers

The body of 12-year-old Autumn Pasquale was found late last night.

Her body was discovered in a recycling container in Clayton, N.J., as if she were a discarded piece of trash.

Meanwhile, the real piece of trash, the person who did this to her, is still out there.

This poor girl, just one week shy of her 13th birthday, was taken from her family and friends in the most heinous of ways. She'll never go to Prom, get married, or have a life of her own because of some sick monster.

The law, as far as I understand it, requires an automatic sentence of life in prison without the eligibility of parole for those who kill a child under the age of 14.

There are many who believe the death penalty to be a cruel and unusual form of punishment, but it's a cruel and unusual punishment for Autumn's parents to know that once caught, their daughter's killer will get to live out the rest of his or her life, even if it is behind bars.

At least in the instance of child killers, I don't think the death penalty is too harsh a punishment. And while we're on the subject, forget this business of 10-15 years worth of appeals too. You get two chances to appeal. Three strikes, you're out. Give it two years max, then buh-bye.

(I really wish her parents would be allowed 5 minutes alone in a room with the person who hurt their little girl...but that's the real vigilante in me.)

No parent should ever have to outlive their child. My thoughts are with the Pasquale family.

Let's hope Autumn's killer is found quickly and brought to the limited justice allowed.