Ariana Smyth was a beautiful little girl about to turn 2 years old. She's getting a funeral instead of a birthday party.

You can read the horrific details of her killing in the link above. In short, it was at the hands of her mother's new boyfriend, according to authorities. A man the mother had only been dating two weeks when she agreed to leave her alone in his care. He sexually assaulted her, and beat her, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office says. According to their grisly account, he murdered her.

Even worse, the irresponsible mother allowed the boyfriend to convince her not to take the little girl to the hospital, the authorities say. By the time the mother finally did, it was too late, they say.

The mother is charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child due to her horrible lack of care. The boyfriend, 22-year-old Michael Disporto of Manahawkin, is charged with first-degree murder and sexual assault. Of a girl not even 2.

Disporto at 22 will likely spend decades in prison. Even if they could keep him literally for life, would that be enough? There is no rehabilitation for someone who could do this to a child. If there were, he wouldn't deserve it anyway.

Under Corzine, the death penalty was abolished in New Jersey. I'll agree to not even have the argument about the death penalty in general. But when your crime is the rape or murder of a child? Can anyone give me a lucid reason why this man should be allowed to live?

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