But this case isn't all that unusual. Down here in D.C., a man hired a hit-man to kill his invalid son for the insurance money (the kid was on assorted life-support machines). The hit-man murdered the baby-sitter and then yanked the child's oxygen supply. What can people like this deserve?
The Byrd case got a lot of publicity because of some sensationalist details, as well as for the racial dimension, but to me it is not different than, say, a sniper taking someone out cleanly with one shot.
We seem to apportion blame and possible punishment based on secondary characteristics of the victim(s) and perpetrators, rather on the fundamental matters of the mental state of the killer, his/her remorse or lack thereof, and the basic fact of the death of an innocent person.
mbs