Manwill’s Killer Should Die

I have no opinion on the guilt or innocence of Daniel Ehrlick Jr.  and Melissa Scott Jenkins, the alleged murderers of Robert Manwill, but this I have an opinion on:

Ada County prosecutors decided Friday they will not seek the death penalty against first-degree murder suspects Daniel Ehrlick and Melissa Jenkins for the beating death of 8-year-old Robert Manwill earlier this year.

Ehrlick is accused of beating the boy — Jenkins’ son — to death. Jenkins is accused of covering up the crime and lying to police about what happened.

It’s the prosecutor’s job to determine whether the aggravating factors exist for a jury to sentence someone to death, like if the killing was heinously cruel, the defendant has a propensity to commit murder, or the killer showed an utter disregard for human life.

While I can understand not seeking the death penalty against Jenkins, as they allege she was an accessory after the fact, the Ada County Attorney’s office is showing ultimate disrespect for the value of human by refusing to seek the death penalty against Ehrlick.

If we’re to believe prosecutors, they allege that Ehrlick took an innocent child and beat him to death. The last moments of Robert Manwill’s life on this planet were moments of pure agony. Prosecutors allege that Ehrlick was the big man who took out whatever frustrations he had on an innocent little boy.

If that’s not disregard for the value of human life, what is?  If that’s not heinously cruel, what is? 

Many people ask me how I can be pro-life and for the death penalty. The death penalty  is about respecting life. One of the best scriptures on this comes from the mouth of God in Genesis 9, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man.”

Justice demands that Robert Manwill’s killer should forfeit his own life. Yet, there will be no justice in this case. At this point, there may be a plea bargain in the offing. Within a decade, I’ll lay even money that Robert Manwill’s killer will be out on the street.

Why? Because our society doesn’t value the lives of children. We say we do, but we don’t. How many child molestors have been given chance after chance to go out and rape more kids, ruin more lives. We’ve seen the stories. The lives of children are cheap. They’re not  as cheap as in countries like Thailand, but we don’t treat these real crimes as seriously as we ought.

And now, if the Ada Country District Attorney’s office has found the right man, we will once again devalue the life of a child. Why? I don’t know. Maybe, in the judgment of the prosecutors, justice is too hard, or they don’t feel like spending the money to fight through our broken down appeals process, which is designed to protect murderers, and frustrate justice and the rights of victims.

Whatever the case, there is no excuse, and this decision will way heavily on my mind the next time I vote for County Attorney.