Texas woman executed for torture, starvation of 9-year-old boy
Source: CBS
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - A Texas woman convicted of the starvation and torture death of her girlfriend's 9-year-old son a decade ago was executed Wednesday evening.
Lisa Coleman, 38, received a lethal injection after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a last-day appeal to spare her.
>
>
Paramedics who found him dead said they were shocked to learn his age. He weighed 36 pounds, about half that of a normal 9-year-old. A pediatrician later would testify that he had more than 250 distinct injuries, including burns from cigarettes or cigars and scars from ligatures, and that a lack of food made him stop growing.
"There was not an inch on his body that not been bruised or scarred or injured," said Dixie Bersano, one of Coleman's trial prosecutors.
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-woman-executed-for-torture-starvation-of-9-year-old-boy/
Kurska
(5,739 posts)That is all I'm going to say here.
I constantly have to remind myself that (for me) it isn't about this crime or this individual, but the systemic racism and classism present with how capital punishment is doled out.
But damn it's not easy...
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)"state action" as opposed to the acts. That way, I can consistently maintain that although some truly terrible people probably got what was coming to them, I STILL don't want the state tinkering with the machinery of death.
samsingh
(17,602 posts)there is no ambiguity at all
LoisB
(7,249 posts)teenagebambam
(1,592 posts)and got life in prison.
LoisB
(7,249 posts)msanthrope
(37,549 posts)secondwind
(16,903 posts)to happen to her son???? This abuse must have occurred over a period of months, and the mother did NOTHING?
She should have been executed also, imho... and I'm not a death penalty person, because innocent people have been executed in the past, but this mother was as culpable as her friend.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)samsingh
(17,602 posts)littlewolf
(3,813 posts)I think both of them should have gotten life w/o parole - ever.
leave em locked up in prison, and stay there.
but - it is difficult in this case it really is.
alp227
(32,073 posts)secondvariety
(1,245 posts)She got off easy compared to that poor boy.
The Stranger
(11,297 posts)1. Here, there seems to be no question the child was in her custody. In other words, this isn't a case where someone is shot in the middle of the night, and only one eyewitness may or may not have caught a glimpse of the shooter.
2. Here, the child's body was found an examined. There is no question of chain of custody of a murder weapon or a murder case where the body or the murder weapon was never found.
We know what happened here, so this case is very, very different. And what happened was so very, very bad. Sociopathic doesn't quite really capture it.
And that is why this may be a justifiable case of capital punishment.
7962
(11,841 posts)Seek the DP ONLY in cases where there is ZERO doubt as to the guilt of the shooter. Gacy would be a good example. OJ Simpson would be a prime example of "some" doubt. A lot of fancy evidence, circumstantial, etc. If I were on a jury, I could've convicted OJ and sent him to jail. But NOT the needle.
There are MANY cases where the guilt of the offender is never in doubt. That should be the litmus test for the prosecutor
The Stranger
(11,297 posts). . . some object to the death penalty on other grounds.
I don't know the numbers, but anecdotally it would seem the vast majority of those opposed base their opposition on the chance that the State would execute an innocent (and it has happened before).
But there is another group that object on grounds of morality or religion (and, I think they are supposed to be stricken as jurors if they do, but I could be wrong on that as well).
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)And often the people involved in the crimes have mental issues, adding to the ambiguity. So the cases where there is zero percent doubt are pretty rare indeed.
Why not just err on the side of safety and give life in prison, which is a pretty terrible penalty?
7962
(11,841 posts)#1- Too many criminals are just fine with life in prison
#2- Its only a matter of time before we have groups who will try to get "old" criminals released, saying that its now cruel to keep a 75 yr old in jail. They're no longer a threat, they're sick, whatever. Trust me, that will come soon.
And the zero percent is not really that rare. I'm not even considering eye witnesses and possible coerced confessions. There are plenty of examples of "caught red handed" or caught on the run. Caught in the act. Caught on film. Look at the Atlanta courthouse shooter a few years ago. ZERO doubt. I could name plenty others, but you get the point. I wouldnt accept anything in the gray area.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)spend life in prison or are released when they are 75.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)BuddhaGirl
(3,614 posts)But I'm against the death penalty. It's not "justice."
Life in prison w/o parole.
freedom fighter jh
(1,782 posts). . . is the direct prevention of equal or greater loss of life. It's OK to kill someone to stop them from killing you or someone else.
But that's it.
I don't care what she did. They could put her in prison for life. There is no justification for killing her.
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)I won't lose sleep over her absence.
TYY
Historic NY
(37,458 posts)that is all.
7962
(11,841 posts)FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)I'm glad such a person is no longer alive.