Baton Rouge Representative Barbara Carpenter
Baton Rouge Representative Barbara Carpenter wants parents convicted of killing their minor children to be added to the list of first-degree murder thus making them eligible for the death penalty.
“Over the course of just this year at least four instances of cases have come up, where parents have literally killed these babies,” said Carpenter.
Carpenter says the murder of a two-year-old in Baton Rouge last fall whose body was taken to Mississippi to be buried inspired the legislation.
Baton Rouge Representative Denise Marcelle spoke in opposition and says many adults who kill their children suffer from mental illness. She also opposes the death penalty.
“Because it doesn’t serve the purpose that we need in our state and public defenders spend millions defending people that never, ever, never ever are sentenced to death,” said Marcelle.
Currently, the law includes all minors under the age of 12 on the list of victims for whom killers can receive the death penalty. Mandeville Representative Richard Nelson asked why victims ages 12 to 19 would be added in cases where the victim is the child of the offender.
“If I kill my own child now it will be first-degree murder if they are 13, but if I kill someone else’s child, it will not be first-degree murder, why would we make that distinction,” said Nelson.
The bill cleared committee with two votes in opposition and now goes to the House.
Comments