In the Wild West, people would be hanged publicly for crimes they committed.
The last public hanging in the United States was on August 14, 1936. Around 15,000-20,000 people showed up to see the hanging of Rainey Bethea.
That was 80 years ago – the crime was the rape and murder of an elderly woman, Lischia Edwards. A heinous crime indeed.
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A man named Benjamin Taylor, 32, has also committed a heinous crime and people are asking for him to be hanged.
What did he do?
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He raped and murdered his girlfriend’s 9-month old baby girl.
The baby’s mother, Amanda Adkins, had gone to take a nap.
When she woke up her baby, Emmaleigh, wasn’t in her crib.
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When she eventually found Emmaleigh, the baby was unconscious and bleeding in the basement.
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Authorities said that Taylor had attacked the infant so violently that she was brain dead when the paramedics arrived.
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Emmaleigh’s family, according to the West Virginia Metro News, had to make the decision to stop life support.
Once word got out about what Taylor had done, this Facebook page was filled with angry remarks from people all around the globe.
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People said that jail was too good for him and that he should hang.
How could a grown man do that to such a small baby?
West Virginia does not have the death penalty.
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A petition was started to get justice for Emmaleigh.
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Some of the wording in the petition was very strong, and people hope that if Taylor is hanged that other people will be deterred from committing similar crimes.
