It’s hard to imagine a more horrific, or depraved, crime than the 2013 torture and murder of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez, for which the child’s mother’s boyfriend was sentenced to death Thursday morning. Gabriel was beaten so badly his skull was fractured, ribs were broken and teeth were knocked out. He was burned, and his tormenter repeatedly fired a BB gun into his groin because, the prosecutor said at trial, the mother’s boyfriend thought the child was gay. But as much as such crimes dim our souls, they are also tests of principle. Aguirre should not have been sentenced to death because, as the Times editorial board has often argued, no one should be sentenced to death.

Source: Los Angeles Times June 07, 2018 19:18 UTC