Jessica Lunsford Killer Sentenced to Die

[Tara]

Finally!!! The SOB is gonna die!!   I watched this Live today on TV...it was a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng sentencing. They shouldn't of even wasted all that time and reasons for his sentencing. He should of been sentenced a long time ago.  They told everything that happened in graphic detail, and that SOB didn't look like he could give two shits.

I can't believe his lawyers brought up the points of what they thought should be taken into consideration, for instance " Look what good did come out of this..We have the Jessica Law now"   OMFG........ !@#$   

Yes, we do have the Jessica Law (well most states do but all should) but how in the hell can what he did to this little girl be looked at as brownie points towards Couey.  :xx



INVERNESS, Fla. - A convicted sex offender was sentenced Friday to death for kidnapping 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, raping her and burying her alive in his yard.

John Evander Couey looked straight ahead as Circuit Judge Ric Howard told him he should be executed for the 2005 crimes that led to new laws in many states cracking down on convicted sex offenders.

Sheriff's deputies hustled the handcuffed inmate out of the crowded courtroom.

The girl's father, Mark Lunsford, teared up as he listened to the judge read a detailed history of the case for nearly an hour. He hugged relatives after the sentence was read.

Outside court, Lunsford had a message for Couey: "Skip all these appeals. Take your punishment. Stand up and be a man."

The jury that convicted Couey in March recommended 10-2 that he die for his crimes, but the decision was left to Howard.

An attorney for Couey, 49, had argued that he couldn't legally be executed because he is mentally retarded, but Howard brushed aside that claim in a strongly worded ruling earlier this month. Mentally retarded people cannot be executed under a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

The jury convicted Couey of taking the girl in February 2005 from her bedroom to his nearby trailer, sparking a massive search. The third-grader's body was found about three weeks after she disappeared in a grave in Couey's yard, about 150 yards from her own home.

Couey, already a convicted sex offender when he committed the crime, was arrested in Georgia and confessed to the killing. That confession was thrown out as evidence because Couey did not have a lawyer present.

Despite the confession being tossed, Couey incriminated himself other times. Jail guards and investigators testified that he repeatedly admitted details of the slaying after his arrest, insisting that he hadn't meant to kill the third-grader but panicked during an intense, nationally publicized police search.

Prosecutors also had overwhelming physical evidence, including DNA from the girl's blood and Couey's semen on a mattress in his room as well as her fingerprints in a closet where investigators said she was hidden.

Howard recounted the evidence in detail, including Couey wrapping her in two garbage bags, putting her alive into a hole then piling a foot of dirt on top of her.

"His actions crushed the very breath and life out of Jessica Marie Lunsford," Howard said.

"Jessica futilely poked two fingers out of the inner bag indicating that she was trying to dig her way out of what would become her grave," Howard said. "Her last thoughts ... cannot be fathomed."

Couey has a criminal record that includes 24 burglary arrests, carrying a concealed weapon and indecent exposure. He was designated a sex offender for exposing himself to a 5-year-old girl in 1991.

[gator8_24]

I watched it too.  It was long but guess the judge had to read the entire list of charges and how it all took place.  I did get a laugh when tried to blame it on first his sister, if she had loved him more, and then his mother!  It happened not that far from my county so was major news everyday. The prison he is being sent to is in Starke which is about 30 miles from here so it will be a circus when execution occurs. ;:" ;:"

[swamp]

I watched it too.  It was long but guess the judge had to read the entire list of charges and how it all took place.  I did get a laugh when tried to blame it on first his sister, if she had loved him more, and then his mother!  It happened not that far from my county so was major news everyday. The prison he is being sent to is in Starke which is about 30 miles from here so it will be a circus when execution occurs. ;:" ;:"

they need to put him in old sparky, i would pull the switch if they would let me :##

[gator8_24]

Yes, FL need to bring back 'old sparky' lol